From Metiria Turei's State of the Planet speech today:
Poorer kids have three times the rate of hospital admissions for preventable illnesses. They are one and a half times as likely to die in infancy, and have an up to 50 per cent chance of becoming a poor adult, when, inevitably, the poverty cycle begins again for their kids.
Are you angry yet?
Turning away, not even engaging with inequality, as we saw the Prime Minsiter do last week, is a betrayal of those children.
The answer is, of course to eradicate poverty itself, by lifting the minimum wage, creating a smarter greener economy, ensuring that families live in affordable, warm, dry homes, and raising benefits.
If I took anything from my Asian trip it was the new reality in China - now NZ's biggest trading partner. Low tax incentives are the rule for growth.
New Zealand cannot afford to increase taxation on individuals or companies. That is what implementation of the Green policies would require. As well, it's research-proven that when governments redistribute more wealth to low income families with children, the percentage of workless households increases.
Greens are la-la dreamers. I wasn't going to make comment but then thought better. Their idealism is naive but it's not harmless. It's dangerous. So this year it needs to be exposed as regularly as it appears.
Makes sense to me
ReplyDeleteCan you give us link to research which shows Government redistribution wealth to those on low incomes leads to an increase in percentage of workless Households.
Thanks
A message you can't say enough!
ReplyDeletefarmerbabyboomer
ReplyDeletehttp://www.oecd.org/els/soc/38227981.pdf
"These findings are also relevant to the argument that there is an unavoidable trade-off between
providing generous assistance to the poor and improving incentives for people to work and provide for themselves. On average across OECD
countries, there is a fairly strong correlation between the effectiveness of tax and benefit systems in reducing poverty and the level of family joblessness. The correlation coefficient is 0.63 –
implying that every 1 percentage point increase in the level of poverty reduction achieved by the
welfare state is associated with an increase in the number of jobless families by 0.63 percentage points. Among the English-speaking countries,
the correlation is even stronger (about 0.92), so that Australia and the United Kingdom reduce
child poverty very significantly and have very high levels of joblessness among families; while
Canada and the United States reduce poverty much less, but have much lower levels of
joblessness (although they have much higher poverty among working families with children)."
China. Poverty-free, exploitation-free,corruption-free; a society that cares for each and every citizen.
ReplyDelete"New Zealand cannot afford to increase taxation on individuals or companies"
ReplyDeleteDidn't Key increase GST on everything and the tax on fuel?
Do you hold still that we can't afford to have had him do that?
Robert, It's a transforming society.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a National flag waver. Wouldn't have raised gst. Wouldn't want to raise any tax. But you wouldn't like the implications of that either.
One of the big issues in New Zealand is the high levels of working poor and the Government is having to spend almost $5 billion a year on Working for families and the accommodation supplement. Working for families is essentially a wage subsidy for employers who refuse to pay a living wage and the accommodation supplement is a subsidy for landlords.
ReplyDeleteI am voting Green. It's time the benes got a payrise. Don't be so hard hearted, Lindsay. Have you tried to live on a benefit? they haven't gotten a rise in years.
ReplyDeleteKey has made everythig touch for the poor and struggling. No surprise there.
May the rich become poor.
Hi Beansprout
ReplyDeleteYou say:
"Working for families is essentially a wage subsidy for employers who refuse to pay a living wage and the accommodation supplement is a subsidy for landlords."
I take your point. Let's stop subsidizing those selfish employers and greedly landlords immediately!
Better still, lets really teach them a lesson and stop all State handouts, the money just ends up in the pockets of those capitalist opressors who own the supermarkets, clothing stores, and the warehouse.
China. Poverty-free, exploitation-free,corruption-free; a society that cares for each and every citizen.
ReplyDeleteChina. When it comes to business - basically the freest place to run a business and to employe people.
The secret? - it's not the government's job to care!
Have you tried to live on a benefit? they haven't gotten a rise in years.
ReplyDeleteFact: NZ benefits rates are the highest they've ever been
Fact: National's so-called reforms just renamed the benefits, didn't cut any benefit rates.
Fact: There are more people on NZ on more benefits getting more money than ever before.
Fact: About 10% of Kiwis pay for everything for everyone else.
Fact: NZ's effective personal tax rate - 68% - is more than three times as high as the effective personal tax rate in the GDR, a communist country!
Anonymous says 'let the rich become poor 'as though that is a solution to anything. It might make anonymous feel better but most of those 'rich' people are the people who invest their money which creates the prosperity. I'm sure that not what you want to hear but the truth. The Greens anywhere near power will be a disaster-partly because it would destabilise Labour - which wouldn't take much!
ReplyDeleteThe Greens are dangerous. The Greens are communists.
ReplyDeleteThe Greens are commuinst? Sure.
ReplyDeleteSo are National, ACT, the Conservatives, Labour, Maori, Mana, Dunny, and of course WInston.
Hell even Lindsay is a communist. Here's a simple question: do you agree we should immediately end communism in NZ, that is stop every single benefit including the dole, DPB, Accomo supplement, Super, WelfareForFamilies, Sicko etc? And by "end" I mean end: do not replace, do not cut taxes for bludgers earning under 100K, do not capitalize benefits or provide make-work schemes or anything.
I mean stop. Just stop.
You don't? Gee then you're a commie!
No let the rich become poor, because mostly the rich seem to not care about anyone but themselves.
ReplyDeleteKey is a prime example of this. He came from a poor background, but has no empathy at all for those on struggle street.
All his policies have undermined benies and helped his rich mates.
That's what I meant.
Dickens understood the impoverished, Key does not.
but has no empathy at all for those on struggle street.
ReplyDeleteState-house State school DPB kid Key - has raised the benefit rates in NZ to the highest they have ever been!
One day there will be a real right-wing government in NZ again - the sprit of Massey's Cossacks still lives in NZ!
And when all the benefits are ended, the state houses and schools and hospitals sold - the biggest surprise will be the measures of poverty and deprivation will drop through the floor.
It's called Freedom!