- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Monday, September 29, 2008

New Zealand's income gap doubles


New Zealand's income gap doubles
Research by Auckland University academics released on Friday by the Ministry of Education showed the average income gap between those with no educational qualifications and those with a secondary education doubled to $10,396 between 1981 and 2006. The proportion of uneducated couples who were out of work went from 6.9 per cent in 1981 to 16.3% in 2006. The latest figure was an improvement on the 21.8% recorded in 1991. The Gini co-efficient, an internationally recognised measure of income inequality, has gone from 26 in 1981 to 31.7 in 2007. A measure of zero represents perfect equality and 100 is perfect inequality.

Labour released a strategy on Friday that would see the long term unemployed threatened and prodded into work or the suspension of their benefit, the strategy of course won’t work because the underlying problem with the long term unemployed hasn’t been a lack of work, it’s been a lack of personal skills ranging from illiteracy to alcohol addiction and underwhelming educational achievements but no one ever lost a vote from a bit of bene bashing now did they. This latest news that NZ’s income gap has doubled reinforces the importance of universal education and that without massive investment into education the results are a halving of prosperity and a depletion of personal capacity that locks people into a cycle of low achievement and despair, but the pain of those very low on the social strata don’t tend to matter much to those charged with dealing to them.

9 Comments:

At 29/9/08 9:44 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And the gap will continue to grow until our lazy dole bludgers get a good kick in the backside and are forced to seek work for a living.

Welfarism is killing this country and condemning a sector of the population to a hopeless life.

 
At 29/9/08 6:06 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Left-wingers are part of the problem, making pathetic excuses for lazy people.

 
At 29/9/08 10:49 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yep they're in pain all right.

Seriously bomber have you ever been to a 3rd world country and seen actual poverty?

Those of us who have know from direct experience that you talking shit.

 
At 30/9/08 12:15 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bomber said: the underlying problem with the long term unemployed hasn’t been a lack of work, it’s been a lack of personal skills ranging from illiteracy to alcohol addiction and underwhelming educational achievements

Exactly right. The rest of you idiots ought to stop wanking and think a little. But no, you'll just keep spurting out your tedious monolithic put-downs.

 
At 30/9/08 7:51 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anon @ 12.15: If you're going to support bomber at least wait till he offers an actual solution to something.

And blaming middle class taxpayers for unemployed people choosing to take drugs is not a solution.

 
At 1/10/08 3:35 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you're going to support bomber at least wait till he offers an actual solution to something.

If you don't think Bomber offered a solution in what he wrote then there is clearly something wrong with your reading comprehension.

blaming middle class taxpayers for unemployed people choosing to take drugs

Woah, that's some good shit you're smoking there. I guess that explains why your comprehension has slipped.

 
At 1/10/08 6:31 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Woah, that's some good shit you're smoking there. I guess that explains why your comprehension has slipped."

You need to reflect on your own comprehension anon. Bomber's comment on education is nonspecific rhetoric, not a solution.

 
At 1/10/08 6:41 pm, Blogger Bomber said...

You need to reflect on your own comprehension anon. Bomber's comment on education is nonspecific rhetoric, not a solution.

Actually Anon that is bullshit, on the education thread you’ve simply wallowed around moaning about ‘in your day’ to my comment about rockers and mods, I’ve specifically pointed out that smaller class sizes and teachers aids in each class is a solution in the education thread – you did read the whole post and not just the first sentence you disagreed with did you? And your post on this thread I’ve pointed out that simply forcing people off the dole when they don’t have the skills to do work is pointless, and I refer back to the report on income inequality to re-emphasis the need for education . I’m not sure it’s a comprehension issue with you anon so much as a chip on your shoulder about any issue I write about.

 
At 1/10/08 7:43 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Realistically a lot of unemployed people are too stupid to be educated. There are plenty of unskilled jobs if laziness isn't an issue.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home