Poverty
About Poverty
How we treat those who are struggling is one of the key markers of a compassionate society. We’re committed to investigating the reality of poverty and deprivation in New Zealand, with the purpose of contributing well-researched policy recommendations that have the potential to transform and redeem the lives of our neighbours who need help.
Most Recent Activity
Two-and-a-half cheers for child poverty bill
By Alex Penk
I was born at the tail-end of Gen X, so I grew up with a pop culture saturated by “fear…
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Mana in Mahi isn’t your average work-for-the-dole scheme
By Kieran Madden
Translated to “strength in work,” Labour’s Mana in Mahi scheme shows real potential to make a difference in the lives…
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Irresponsible lenders on borrowed time
By Julian Wood
While borrowing money at an annualised interest rate of up to 693% wouldn’t appear at the top of anyone’s wish…
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Submission: Child Poverty Reduction Bill
By Kieran Madden
Maxim Institute supports this Bill and proposes amendments to strengthen it. We welcome this Bill and its potential to increase…
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Promises and plans to change poverty in New Zealand
By Kieran Madden
A few weeks ago, my colleague wrote about Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s “courageous move” to introduce the Child Poverty Reduction…
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Labour’s courageous move on poverty
By Jeremy Vargo
Labour’s announcement last week of the Child Poverty Reduction Bill was almost instantly hailed by many as a huge step…
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Discussion Paper: Acknowledging Ability
By Danielle van Dalen
People who are living with a disability are vastly overrepresented in New Zealand’s poverty figures, and 74 percent of those…
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Save Social Investment
By Kieran Madden
National’s Social Investment Approach must stay, but not as we know it. Imagine, for a moment, that policies are cars….
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Investing in people, regardless of return
By Julian Wood
Like the proverbial frog in the slowly heating pot, many of us are blissfully unaware of the change currently going…
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The State must serve
By Kieran Madden
Is the government’s flagship Social Investment approach simply the “incremental privatisation of social services?” When journalist Richard Harman posed this…
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The trust trade-off
By Kieran Madden
The Government is going all in on its Social Investment strategy for fixing social ills, but the big data it…
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Creating opportunities to contribute
By Danielle van Dalen
Last week New Zealander Robert Martin took up his position in Geneva as Spokesperson for Disabled People on the United…
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Valuing access to work
By Danielle van Dalen
Unemployment is costly. It costs the unemployed person and it costs society. For plenty of people with disabilities this cost…
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Poverty in New Zealand – The Heart of Poverty research series
By Kieran Madden
Every society tells a story about the good life, getting a fair go, or what it takes to live well. Sadly,…
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Welfare to work?
By Kieran Madden
Just where do people go when they move off a benefit? It’s a serious question that demands an answer. Why?…
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Removing the barriers
By Danielle van Dalen
I was 12 when my grandfather lost his eye and was declared officially blind. In the following months and years…
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The true cost of getting “Ready for Work”
By Julian Wood
Labour’s “Ready For Work” policy is a great idea. Unveiled at the party’s conference, the plan offers on the job…
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Not helping harms us
By Julian Wood
Last week the Hamilton Central Business Association enacted the “Your Help May Harm” campaign, aiming “to educate the public on the…
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Posturing doesn’t help those facing poverty
By Alex Penk
“I know that’s not PC, but you know, that’s me,” said Judith Collins last week as she commented on child…
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Between risk and reality
By Kieran Madden
We use statistics to inform policy development and public discourse—it is a tool to better society. But like most tools,…
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