Cost of Living archive at Grant Robertson

Archive for the 'Cost of Living' Category

The Double Whammy: Cost of Living and Asset Sales

May 9th, 2011

Campbell Live has been doing a series of programmes on the cost of living this year, and they are focusing on it even more as the Budget looms. Tonight’s episode was a doozy, with an additional piece on asset sales, focusing on the workers on the Clyde Dam.

On cost of living, the story of the Alexander family will be familiar to many families. Single income, with a baby, really struggling to make ends meet. Just groceries alone have gone up by 20% over the last eight months. Let alone petrol and other costs. As they note in the story, it will be even harder for others with more children or lower incomes. The story also notes John Key saying “no one will be worse off” after the GST increase. Well, the Alexanders would beg to differ.

On the assets sales the anger of the former Clyde Dam workers says it all. One of them called National’s plan to sell off assets ” a betrayal.” They know, because the Clyde Dam is in the control of Australian company Origin. Supposedly an opportunity for those Mum and Dad investors National like to talk about, the truth is the profits from the end result of these workers toil heads offshore.

Whole programme is worth a watch, as will the run-up to the Budget as various people try to make do on the pension and the average wage.

Posted in GST Increase, Asset sales and Cost of Living. | 0 Comments

The cost of putting a healthy meal on the table

March 17th, 2011

It is a perversity of modern life that it is cheaper to eat badly than it is to eat healthily. We all know from the visits to the supermarket that the fizzy drinks are often cheaper than the milk. Processed foods are discounted as the price of fresh fruit and vegetables goes up. This is true for everyone, but especially hard work if you are on a modest or low income.

The Regional Public Health service here in Wellington has produced an interesting study on food costs for families, using data from the University of Otago food cost survey.

While the study notes that on average New Zealanders spend 16% of their income on food, the study shows that in order to put a healthy meal on the table, many New Zealanders would need to spend a far greater percentage of their income on food.

International studies indicate that if you are spending more than 30% of your disposable income on food, you are experiencing ‘food stress’. This study shows that to purchase a basic healthy diet, many low income New Zealanders will be spending a far greater percentage than that.

For example for a family living off the minimum wage would need to spend 34% of their income before rent and 50% of their income after rent to do this. For a beneficiary family the situation is even more difficult with a range of 43% (before rent) and 74% (after rent) required.

Obviously this will be next to impossible for many people. The social and economic consequences of an unhealthy diet are obvious, not only for the individuals concerned, but for the country as a whole. Obesity and poor nutrition will contribute to high health costs, poor quality of life and a cost to us all through the health system and the human cost of lost opportunity.

The rising cost of food, and the impact of the GST increase are all contributed to making this situation worse. John Key showed he was getting out of touch when he described going to foodbanks as a lifestyle choice. The unaffordabilty of the basics is the reality that many families are facing.

While some people like to disparage Labour’s policy of removing the GST from fresh fruit and vegetables that is a step in the direction of making healthy food more affordable. Making our tax system fairer, including through the tax free zone and lifting minimum wages are also part of our plans to give people the income they need to provide for their families. It is vital for all our futures.

Posted in Healthy Food and Cost of Living. | 0 Comments

The Tax Switch/Swindle

September 26th, 2010

The last few days in the electorate have been marked by an increasing number of people, of all political persuasions working out that the tax switch is going to see them no better off, and in many cases worse off. The GST increase, and the associated price increases are top of mind. In Wellington 6% increases in power bills and the increasing costs of bus travel will wipe out the meagre tax cut benefits for those on low to middle incomes. Everything from the increased cost of rates, rents, stamps and food have also been raised with me.

The NZ Herald had a feature story on this yesterday as well, and the experience of the family who have had the benefit of tax cuts wiped out by the government’s funding cut to early childhood education is another commonly raised issue.

The Sunday Star Times story today, though, makes clear the real problem with the tax switch

The real winners from the cuts are people earning more than $70,000 a year. Anyone earning $100,000, for instance, can expect nearly $70 more in their pay, making them $42 better off after paying that extra GST. For low income earners, the impact is marginal. Someone on $20,000 will be nearly $3 better off, while someone on $30,000 will be $6 richer.

No wonder John Key has instructed his MPs to try to sell the tax switch. The problem is people know their own budgets and costs, and no amount of spin will change that.

Posted in Tax Swindle, GST and Cost of Living. | 0 Comments

Cost Of Living

February 11th, 2010

It really is sobering stuff from Statistics New Zealand today with pretty big price increases in basic items. Everything is up, meat, vegetables, milk. As the Stats NZ Prices Manager said

“Although food prices are now 2.2 percent higher than a year ago, they are 12.0 percent higher than two years ago,” Mr Pike said.

This is putting a lot of pressure on people on low to middle incomes. I have seen some people in real distress in my own electorate, and social services agencies have been reporting big increases in clients. I was in Whanganui last week, and the City Mission there is struggling to cope with people looking for support, including food parcels.

Surely in the face of this the government has to re-think an increase in GST?

Posted in Tax, GST and Cost of Living. | 0 Comments

Goff on Cost of Living

December 14th, 2009

Courtesy of the great new In-The-House website here is Phil Goff’s speech in the General Debate in Parliament last week. It is a great speech that zeros in how the Government is contributing to many Kiwi families struggle with the cost of living with a pay freeze, rising power prices and their own poor sense of priorities. Phil’s speech starts at the 1.12 mark.

Posted in Labour and Cost of Living. | 0 Comments