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 improves the well-being of children and families and older people
We are pleased about:
Increases in income for some families on lower incomes and some simplifications and improvements to Working for Families
(WFF) and the Accommodation Supplement (AS).
Goals to reduce poverty by 50,000 and severe housing stress by 20,000
Superannunitants receive a modest increase in incomes
55,000 low paid care workers get a very significant pay increase as a result of the Equal Pay settlement.
Small but still significant investment in expanding successful programmes like Family Start
We are disappointed about:
Beneficiaries do not receive any tax cuts, miss out on most of the WFF increases and many will not gain much and some
nothing at all from changes to the Accommodation Supplement.
Not enough new social housing and no attempt to address ways to help people through assisted home ownership such as
rent-to-buy or shared equity.
Selective use of the social investment approach and total “investment” in social investment is relatively small
Big increase in prison spending completely fails the social investment test
Income inequality is likely widened even further due to by poorly designed tax cuts that deliver more to the top 20% of
incomes than to lowest 60% of income earners.
Do the good points do enough to outweigh the flaws and deliver an overall increase in well being?