NZ had 23,158 people on the unemployment benefit at September 2007. The official unemployment rate is 3.5 percent.
Australia's unemployment rate is 4.3 percent. In August they had 505,927 people on the unemployment benefit.
Australia's population is 5 times NZ's yet it has nearly 22 x the number of people on the dole.
The difference cannot be accounted for in incapacity benefits as NZ's rate of reliance is similar (if a little less) than the Aussies.
In Australia, from July 2006 new welfare-applicant single parents whose youngest child was 8 or more were directed to the unemployment benefit. This may be part of the anomaly, but certainly not all.
I wonder how many Kiwis are over there on the dole? (Those who were there before the 2000/01 rule change or have been there the two years required since the rule change?)
Back then the Aussie government said it was paying over a billion dollars to Kiwis on welfare benefits. By my reckoning that would be anywhere from 50-75,000 people.
If they were on the dole in NZ that would make the ratio about right.
Just musing.
Who are the major emitters?
13 minutes ago
3 comments:
OMG! Can you find out?
Of course we must send a lot of money over their to our pensioners to top up the Aussie economy - I wonder haow much that is.
Lindsay, have your kids ever played that edutainment computer game, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Perhaps you could adapt it: Where in the World are New Zealand’s Dole Bludgers?
Really, the idea that they are hiding out in Australia is the most entertaining of your inventive attempts to deny the reality that unemployment in New Zealand is LOW. And is apparently falling in Australia, both in terms of benefit numbers and surveyed unemployed. The 500,000 or so Australian unemployment benefit numbers are fully described here:
http://www.workplace.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/57B6B156-E840-4EC1-8C04-0A9CF24778FF/0/BluebookAugust2007.pdf
Of all the working age people in New Zealand, aren't approximately 10% on some kind of benefit? You can't think that's a good percentage - Anon
Gloria
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