Migration Policy Paper: A Welcome That Works

By Julian Wood

Over the last 30 years, New Zealand has become over reliant on temporary work migration as a way to solve…

MEDIA RELEASE: Creating work opportunities for people with disabilities to get out of poverty

Thursday, 23 May In New Zealand people with disabilities earn just half of the average income of people without disabilities….

Media coverage of the launch of “A Risk Worth Taking” Policy Paper

By Alex Penk

On the morning of the release of our analysis of the Provincial Growth Fund, our report was featured on the…

Regional Development Policy Paper | A Risk Worth Taking

By Julian Wood

One year into the $3B Provincial Growth Fund, Maxim Institute’s new research A Risk Worth Taking – Ensuring the Provincial…

The collision of research and real life

By Alex Penk

I’ve never been to Maraenui, but I’ve now had a pretty eye-opening introduction to the Napier suburb. The devastation caused…

TOP goes for a walk

By Alex Penk

Gareth Morgan has a point. I know this may be an unpopular view, but hear me out. Last week Morgan…

Taking the Right Risks for the regions – Newsroom column

By Alex Penk

At the launch of our Taking the Right Risks policy paper, Alex Penk and Julian Wood co-authored a column for…

Regional Development Policy Paper | Taking the Right Risks

By Julian Wood

Our previous work on regional development laid out the evidence that large parts of New Zealand are facing a 30 year wave…

Planning to take the right risks for our regions

By Julian Wood

New Zealand’s Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has a problem. He has three billion dollars and three years to change…

The Heart of Poverty Series #3: Uncovering the pathways in to and out of disadvantage in New Zealand

By Kieran Madden

Around 10 to 15 percent of New Zealand families are stuck in persistent poverty that will keep them trapped there…

Maxim responds to David Seymour’s euthanasia accusations

Research Fellow Dr Jane Silloway Smith challenged ACT MP David Seymour’s suggestion that Maxim Institute’s work on euthanasia was “intellectually…

Digging Deeper | Understanding Poverty

By Kieran Madden

Most of us are swimming in ideological waters without even knowing it, and this immersion shapes to some extent how…

A summary of Maxim Institute’s poverty issues paper

The Problem of Poverty—and why we need your feedback on this paper We still have a persistent poverty problem in…

How hyperbole hurts the poor

By Keiran Madden

The first step towards truly helping New Zealanders in poverty is to agree on the extent—or even the existence—of the…

Poverty and “kids these days”

By Keiran Madden

When it comes to humans, one-size-fits-all descriptions rarely cut it. While there is often a kernel of truth in generalisations…

When research becomes news

By Jeremy Vargo

I don’t know about you, but last week my Facebook newsfeed was flooded with posts about a new study that…

Hard evidence

By Keiran Madden

We all want hard evidence right? The term often shrouds more than it enlightens, suggesting that there is a hierarchy…

Embracing complexity

As a researcher in a think tank, you are constantly engaged in a struggle between the vast nuance and complexity…

Educational gains in charter schools are still gains

I was interested to note the similarities between the statement offered by the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) in Tuesday’s…

Guest Book Review: The Spirit Level

By Guest Author

The Spirit Level, published in 2009, argues that what matters for human well-being is not ongoing increases in average income,…