Good news that probably won't see the light of day

The latest Household Incomes Survey is now available. It is still one year out of date but indicates some trends nevertheless. This is the official source of 'child poverty' statistics.

I'm just going to highlight some good news and see if this gets reported elsewhere. Most of the people who read and report on this stuff look for bad news:

Hardship rates for children rose from 15% in the 2007 HES to 21% in HES 2011, then fell to 17% in HES 2012.  

On the latest [international] comparisons available (c 2010-2011), New Zealand is in the middle of the rankings for population and child poverty rates on both measures. For example, the rates for children (0-17 years) are 12% (OECD) and 19% (EU), both in the middle for the respective measures.

 From HES 2011 to HES 2012:

·         median household income rose 2.3% in real terms, following a 3% fall from HES 2010 to HES 2011

·         incomes rose a little for all the lower 9 deciles

 in the context of the GFC and its aftermath [the recovery] is better than many other countries who experienced net falls in the median in the period – for example, Australia, Ireland, the UK and the US

 From HES 2011 to 2012, inequality as measured by the Gini fell significantly