Poverty in New Zealand - What are the Facts?
The discussion on poverty in New Zealand has gone far enough.
The constant bleating that our kids are being neglected because their parents have too little money is a myth, and what makes it a dangerous myth is that giving their parents more money won’t solve the issue, it will exacerbate the it.
....and increase the share price of and/or profits of the gaming/cigarette/booze/Sky TV/finance companies/fast food industries that prey on the weakest links in society.
I can prove conclusively that a family of five can live on the minimum income – as long as they don’t spend money on unnecessary expenses.
Please note that I am not writing from a perspective of some holier-than-thou tosser who is self-righteous and without vices – I have most of them! What I do know for certain, because it has been the case for me in the past, is that when you have limited money coming in, the budget gets adjusted to the only realistic denominator – all expenses for food, shelter and wellbeing must come first, with no exceptions.
That is not the case for too many families in this country.
Unless people are failing to claim their entitlements, the only reason any children in this country are being fed badly, housed in inadequate dwellings, not taken to the doctor and being unsupervised is because people will not put their needs before their wants.
Regular readers will know that this is a subject I've made the same comments on previously, but this time I have gone a step further and can now show beyond any doubt that a family of five can not just live, but live quite comfortably, on the minimum benefit.
As an experiment, our family has been living on the equivalent of a beneficiary budget. Full details, including recipes for cheap & healthy meals, are right here. The budget shown speaks for itself. Not only can you live on a benefit, but you don't even need to give up Earl Grey tea.
I therefore think it's about time we admitted that what we have in New Zealand is not a poverty problem, but an ignorance/stupidity/laziness/selfishness problem. People are spending their money on other things than needs.
That is a disgrace, and ordinary New Zealanders are being bombarded with media coverage telling them poverty is a real issue.
It's only weeks ago that I read a piece in a national daily reporting on a new form of charity: instead of sponsoring a starving kid in Kenya, you can sponsor a kid in New Zealand. As someone who both sponsors Kenyan kids and knows what their lives are like, I am pretty disgusted that people are diverting money from genuine poverty to pay for someone's SkyTV or cigarettes.
The issue is often clouded by the idiotic argument that fresh food is too expensive, hence people buy fast food. Again, this is blatant bullshit and people buy fast food because they're lazy. Fast food is far more expensive than fresh food, and far less healthy.
Selfishness is, I believe, by far the biggest factor in why people are seen to be living in poverty.
This is the selfishness that says "I want a beer/cigarette/joint/game of pokies/car/Sky TV!" (Yes, I include car, because if it's a luxury you can't afford, then you're being pretty bloody selfish for getting one if you allow it to affect your family's needs.)
If your budget is not working, then you need to stop smoking, stop doing drugs, stop gambling and stop drinking booze. Walk and take buses and get the bloody Sky TV stopped. Think of other ways to have fun - preferably ones that involve your kids. You can buy an old game of Monopoly on TradeMe for $1, and parks and lots of other things are free.
I read a story recently where a solo mum was running out of cash, because she had loan payments to make.
Loan payments? What kind of idiot lends to a beneficiary? Oh yeah, another vulture finance company.
Why does a beneficiary have loan payments? You can't have a car, so don't have one, and any other loans should be removed by the simple expedient of entering into the established "No Asset Procedure" which wipes all debt. If people are unaware of those kind of provisions, then maybe they should learn them.
I challenge any family or person, beneficiary or otherwise, to contact me if you genuinely believe you can't afford to live a decent life, with good food and well-fed children.
As noted, we have a huge amount of charity work being done for the kids who are forced to live in these unsatisfactory circumstances. Instead of throwing money, we need to be throwing life skills and legal advice. Why can budgeting advice not be a crucial step in being a beneficiary? Seems pretty obvious to me that if we, the taxpayers are paying the benefit, we have a reasonable expectation that people aren't taking the mickey, and right now, many of them are.
Let's get the political voices to stop mincing around this issue.
Just think about it for a second. If budgeting assistance was part of being a beneficiary, then it would cost to implement it, but the amount of money saved in child health alone would cover any increased expenditure. You can add in the huge savings that will be made on benefits themselves - extra payments would become near zero, for starters.
If you wish to have a say or ask a question, please go ahead. All are welcome and will be published
subject to moderation for decency and spam.
You can have your say by email to alan@charman.co.nz.
Copyright © Alan Charman