Cunliffe's poverty propaganda

In his campaign launch speech David Cunliffe said,

And we’ll tackle child poverty by increasing the minimum wage.

In the Child Poverty in New Zealand book by left-leaning Johnathan Boston and economist Simon Chapple there is a lengthy discussion about lifting minimum wages, implementing a living wage and the effect on child poverty. They summarise:

In short, the living wage proposal, whether implemented via an increase in the statutory minimum wage or through voluntary actions in particular sectors or industries, will do little to solve child poverty in New Zealand.

When we discussed this on Radio NZ Boston talked about the unemployment risks associated with raising the minimum wage, and I made the point that most people on the minimum wage aren't parents.

Yet Labour keep on rolling out this pointless anti-poverty policy.

Cunliffe concludes with another cherry-picked claim:

 We’ve seen more children in poverty...

Here are the official figures. By the favoured, highlighted measure there are the same number of children living in poverty as in the first year National was the government.