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A recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report titled 'Growing Unequal Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries' has shown that New Zealand is one of the most unequal nations in the OECD, with an income gap wider than 21 of the 30 developed countries in the organization.
The report found that the income gap widened more in New Zealand than in any other OECD country between the mind 1980s and mid 1990s, with the exception of Mexico. While the gap in New Zealand has narrowed slightly since that time, it has narrowed much more strongly in Mexico, meaning that the increase in inequality over the 20-year period looked at in the study was greater in New Zealand than in any other developed country.
Today the richest ten per cent of New Zealanders earn nine times as much as the bottom ten per cent. This contrasts with neighboring Australia where the richest tenth earn seven times the poorest.
The report also showed that the share of wealth in the hands of wage earners dropped in all developed countries. Social issues reporter Simon Collins puts this down to:
more capital-intensive technology, higher oil prices and weaker bargaining power for workers as the workforce has shifted from unionised sectors such as manufacturing into mostly non-unionised services.
The situation is not looking for for New Zealand workers. The small decease in the rich-poor gap has been put down to lower unemployment, yet unemployment is expected to rise as the global recession continues. It has also been reported today that with food prices up 10.8% since last year more New Zealanders are turning to growing their own food as they struggle with grocery bills.
