New research from the Child Poverty Action Group has shown families with children receiving benefits would require an estimated $110 a week on average to reach 50 per cent of equivalised median after-housing-costs (AHC) income. These are the measures used by the government to measure the amount of children living in poverty, as in, after you pay for rent how much money is left over. Those families would also require an extra $215 to reach 60 per cent of the same measure, meaning income support levels for the 2020/21 year are well below the Government’s official poverty measures, even when recent benefit increases are included. Lillian spoke to Janet McAllister who was part of the research team to find out more:
Staff from all 8 of Aotearoa’s universities have voted to strike tomorrow, demanding a pay rise of 8 per cent to match inflation.
87 per cent of Tertiary Education Union members voted in favour of the strike action, which comes just weeks before students are set to begin exams, citing difficulties keeping up with the cost of living, and "unmanageable workloads" caused by persistent cost cutting and underinvestment in staff.
Emilia spoke to Dr Sean Sturm, a University of Auckland lecturer who is a bargaining team representative at the Tertiary Education Union
Māori health inequity directly costs the health system $39.9 million per year, according to a new Indigenous-led study. When researchers added indirect costs of $823.4 million from lost years of life and lost wages, which were mostly borne directly by Māori whānau, the overall cost skyrocketed to over $863.3 million.
Māori significantly under-utilised primary care, creating an annual saving to the health system of $49.4 million per year. The authors point out that these are conservative estimates, and say that the 'cost of doing nothing' about health inequity is predominantly borne by Indigenous communities and society - less than 5% of the cost is borne by the health system.
Joe spoke to Rhys Jones, Associate Professor in Te Kupenga Hauora Maori, from the University of Auckland on the matter.
Data released this month by StatsNZ has shown that annual inflation is down to six per cent from six-point-seven per cent in the previous twelve-month period until March 2023.
Although despite this period of disinflation, Consumer Price Index data has shown that the price of consumer goods has continued to rise, with stubbornly high food prices fuelling the cost of living crisis. Food prices have risen above general inflation with food inflation on the Consumer Price Index sitting at twelve-point-three percent in the June quarter of this year.
To talk more about the decrease in inflation and what that signals within the New Zealand economy, producer Andre Fa’aoso spoke to James Mitchell, manager of Consumer Price Delivery at StatsNZ.
Last week Chris Hipkins was in Brussels to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. The much-anticipated deal took years of negotiations with the agreement set to lead to billions of dollars in export savings.
As the agreement comes into place, more than ninety-one per cent of tariffs will be removed from New Zealand goods, and ninety-seven per cent of New Zealand’s current exports will be duty-free.
There will be an immediate tariff removal on the export of New Zealand goods such as kiwifruit, wine, onions, apples, mānuka honey and manufactured goods, as well as for almost all fish and seafood, and other horticultural products.
To talk more about the economic implications of this free trade agreement, Andre Fa’aoso spoke to Doctor Haipeng Zhang, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Auckland
The 2023 Census severe housing deprivation estimates released on Wednesday are the first in the world to have all-of-population data on LGBTQIA+ homelessness.
The numbers collected show at that time, 261 per 10,000 LGBTQIA+ people aged 15 and over were estimated to be living in severe housing deprivation.
For those who don’t identify as LGBTQIA+, the rate was 212 per 10,000.
Senior Research Fellow with He Kāinga Orana at the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington, Dr Brodie Fraser’s research was the first in Aotearoa to look specifically at LGBTQIA+ and takatāpui experiences of homelessness.
Producer Sofia spoke to Fraser about these Census statistics and the significance of including takatāpui
A new study by the University of Auckland has shown rising levels of burnout within the Pacific community.
The research is the first large-scale study to examine burnout within New Zealand-born Pasifika adults between the age of 18 to 65.
The study found that 90 per cent of the adults experienced burnout, with almost 50 per cent experiencing burnout repeatedly.
Producer Vihan spoke to University of Auckland Doctoral Candidate Asetoa Sam Pilisi about his study on burnout within New Zealand-born Pacific communities.
The AA monitors the fluctuations of the cost of petrol in New Zealand. This month, they say the national cost of petrol has risen 5 cents per litre to $2.08, despite no increase in commodity prices or a drop in the exchange rate. So why might this be, and what are the effects of this? Ximena speaks to the AA PetrolWatch Spokesperson, Mark Stockdale, about the issue.
Last night the government voted against a Green Party Bill that was proposed to help reduce the gender pay gap in Aotearoa, which currently stands between 12 and 14 per cent. Wire producer Harry Willis spoke with Green Party Women's Spokesperson Jan Logie about the Bill, beginning with the question of what it actually is and what it hopes to achieve.
The Labour party have announced a new immigration policy which they say will reduce the pressure on our cities, while ensuring we get the skilled workers our country needs. The policy will target mainly students in low-level education courses who attempt to remain in New Zealand following their study. Labour says the policy will see net migration decrease to 20,000-30,000 per year in what they are labeling a breather on immigration. Reporter Sam Smith spoke to Labour leader Andrew Little about the new policy and got reaction from political commentator Bryce Edwards.
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