Today, the NZ Herald reported:
Which is absolutely wrong! Income for the top earners has increased, but low and middle-income earners now have less money in their pockets than they did a few years ago.
In fact incomes for males age 16 to 20 decreased between 2008 and 2011 in real terms before you even factor in the rising cost of living. In 2008 they were earning on average $10,678 each, in 2011 they received a meager $10,563 after tax income to survive on.
That's a decrease of 1%, which combined with CPI infation of 9.8% over the same time period means young males are a lot worse off...which is likely why they make up the largest age group of people leaving for a brighter future overseas or taking their own lives.
Shamubeel Eaqub is obviously a shill for the government. He's completely ignoring the fact that home ownership rates are continuing to decline in New Zealand, mainly because houses are now largely unaffordable for people on even moderate incomes.
Despite the statistics clearly showing that most New Zealander's aren't better off, National and their propagandists will claim until they're blue in the face that everything is just fine. Unfortunately for the majority of struggling Kiwis, it's not.
One budgeting expert blamed tough times for producing "a generation of two-minute noodle kids".
But principal economist at the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research Shamubeel Eaqub suggested perception was not always reality. He said average weekly earnings for all workers had increased more than the cost of living, meaning people were, on average, better off.
Which is absolutely wrong! Income for the top earners has increased, but low and middle-income earners now have less money in their pockets than they did a few years ago.
In fact incomes for males age 16 to 20 decreased between 2008 and 2011 in real terms before you even factor in the rising cost of living. In 2008 they were earning on average $10,678 each, in 2011 they received a meager $10,563 after tax income to survive on.
That's a decrease of 1%, which combined with CPI infation of 9.8% over the same time period means young males are a lot worse off...which is likely why they make up the largest age group of people leaving for a brighter future overseas or taking their own lives.
That had led to households becoming more confident about borrowing as house prices had risen - particularly in Auckland and Canterbury.
Shamubeel Eaqub is obviously a shill for the government. He's completely ignoring the fact that home ownership rates are continuing to decline in New Zealand, mainly because houses are now largely unaffordable for people on even moderate incomes.
Despite the statistics clearly showing that most New Zealander's aren't better off, National and their propagandists will claim until they're blue in the face that everything is just fine. Unfortunately for the majority of struggling Kiwis, it's not.
