Poverty in New Zealand

[citation needed] Growing inequality is confirmed by Statistics New Zealand which keeps track of income disparity using the P80/20 ratio.

But New Zealand is unique among western OECD countries in that it does not collect 'dynamic' data which captures the extent to which people move in and out of poverty.

[10] In 2013 over a dozen different reports were released which focused on the issue and the need to develop agreed ways of describing and measuring poverty.

Dr Wills also set up the Child Poverty Monitor[13] to highlight the living conditions of children in New Zealand on an ongoing basis.

[8] Factors contributing to the growth in inequality include substantial cuts in the top income tax rate in 1986-88 combined with a surge in unemployment caused by Rogernomics and the stock market crash of 1987 which pushed more people onto welfare.

Professor Jonathan Boston of Victoria University says nearly 20% of poorer households in New Zealand now depend on welfare benefits.

[15] They say that when the gap between the top and the bottom levels of society becomes too wide, this erodes trust and empathy between citizens leading to alienation and social fragmentation.

This exacerbates a multitude of health and social problems such as high infant mortality, obesity, teenage pregnancy, crime and imprisonment.