Excessive pay rises at CEO level are the headline-grabbing examples of the rise in inequality in this country. This excess extends into the government sector, with New Zealand shown to have the second highest paid public service Chief Executives among the 34 wealthy countries in the OECD. This puts New Zealand ahead of much larger…
Mā te huruhuru te manu ka rere Let our rangatahi be the wings that give us flight. The skills and abilities of Māori are central to the future wellbeing of our whole nation: “Rangitahi success represents the most significant opportunity to enhance productivity and ensure collective prosperity for the future”. That is the message from…
Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry The Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction is also looking for public comment. Head of this Inquiry is Ron Paterson and he is wanting the inquiry to get feedback as widely as possible. Paterson says that listening well to a wide range of communities and stakeholders is important for…
NZCCSS Submission on the Child Poverty Reduction Bill NZCCSS has given its support for the overall intent of the Bill which for the first time in this country’s history sets out a process for measuring and planning to reduce child poverty into legislation. Setting measures and targets in legislation to reduce child poverty is a…
Tax Working Group 2018 Paul Barber, NZCCSS Policy Advisor Tax is one of the ways that we as citizens of this country relate to each other. We seek to bring more justice and fairness to our communities, because we are all connected and interdependent. The wellbeing of all of us is bound up with the…
Media release 23rd August 2017 A fairer approach to tax would mean more could be done to help those in need. Bringing in a higher tax rate on the highest incomes could provide the resources needed to lift kiwi’s out of poverty – a way to help those facing hard times get back on their…
Take Action One simple change to reduce poverty and inequality would be to pay a Child Tax Credit to all the nearly 200,000 children living on homes where no-one is in paid work. Watch and share this video where Wellington GP Pauline Horrill talks about what it is like for one of her patients, a…
There was “robust engagement with political leaders” on the issues of housing, refugees and social investment, says Anglican Archbishop Philip Richardson, when church leaders met with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett in May. The church leaders at the meeting together with Archbishop Richardson, were Baptist Leader Daniel Palmer, Roman Catholic Cardinal…
The first debate of the election year will ask political parties what they are doing to ensure all New Zealanders live in warm, dry, affordable homes. Hosted by Community Housing Aotearoa, Te Matapihi, Salvation Army, NZ Council of Christian Social Services, Platform and Prefab NZ the debate will focus on what is required to end…
NZCCSS views this 2017 Budget through the eyes of those at the margins of our communities and asks what is being done to lift up the disadvantaged. How well are we doing to share fairly the wealth of our prosperous country? Is this a budget that reduces poverty & inequality? Is this a budget that…
An Exciting and Challenging Time Ahead NZCCSS welcomed the announcement on 18th April of the pay equity settlement as great news for carers and the older people they work with and “fantastic recognition for the work of caring”. The settlement has been widely welcomed and praised by other peak bodies with the NZ Aged Care…
Book Review – “Pennies From Heaven – why cash works best to ensure all children thrive” by Jess Berenton-Shaw & Gareth Morgan “Money works. It works when it is given unconditionally and it works best for those on the lowest incomes…” (p.203) This new book published in March by the Morgan Foundation has done us…
The most recent Roy Morgan poll asking people ‘what is the biggest problem facing New Zealand’ shows that housing and homelessness have emerged to join inequality and poverty as the leading problems that people are concerned about. It will be no surprise that the on-going concerns of those working in social services in communities around…
There is a grim reality to the latest poverty figures that should be seen as an outrage in our wealthy country. There are 155,000 children in material hardship, or 14% of all children, an increase in 10,000 from previous year. This group of children regularly miss out on the things they need like having enough…
High poverty and inequality is the not-so-new normal. That is the conclusion to take from the latest poverty and inequality data released on 8th September in the Ministry of Social Development’s Household Incomes in New Zealand 2015 report. It echoes the experience of NZCCSS agencies reported on in the Vulnerability Report in June. A small…