Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says MSD's latest Household Incomes Report shows that the majority of households have experienced strong real income growth in recent years, and that New Zealand has experienced a stronger recovery than many OECD countries since the Global Financial Crisis.

The Household Incomes Report uses data from the 2014 and early 2015 period, and was released last Thursday alongside a companion report using non-income measures.

The NZ median household income grew on average by just under 3 per cent each year in real terms between 2011 and 2015 and net gains between 2009 and 2015 are better than for many OECD countries, such as the UK, Australia, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the US.

The report finds there is no evidence of any sustained rise or fall in household income inequality in more than a decade, however there is evidence that income inequality after housing costs has risen in the last few years as compared with the mid-2000s and earlier.

The report also finds that income poverty is either flat or falling and that there is no evidence of any increasing depth of relative income poverty over the last two decades.

While still too high, there has been no rise in poverty and material hardship trends for children, which the report says are flat or falling, with this data collected before the Government's $790 million child material hardship package came into effect in April 2016.

The figures also show that housing affordability and quality issues remain for lower income groups, while incomes for beneficiaries and minimum wage workers have remained steady in real terms.

'The government takes these issues seriously, which is why we are among the best in the world at monitoring and analysing data and long-term trends, so that we can take appropriate action,” says Mrs Tolley.

'The report shows that overall we are going in the right direction. It also highlights that we are right to focus on helping people out of poverty and into training and employment. There are more than 40,000 fewer children in benefit dependent households since welfare reforms were introduced, and over 38,000 fewer people on a benefit.

'Alongside this we have increased support for low-income families.

'Earlier this year we introduced the child material hardship package which raised benefit rates for the first time in 43 years, increased Working for Families payments for low income working families and increased Childcare Assistance. We have also introduced free GP visits and prescriptions for children under 13, and have provided around seven and a half million free breakfasts in schools as part of the expanded Kickstart programme.

'The Government is aware of the housing challenges faced by some New Zealanders, and it has a comprehensive housing plan that is improving the quality and supply where it is most needed. We are also investing a record amount supporting vulnerable New Zealanders with their housing costs.

'This annual report provides us with valuable long-term analysis on incomes, housing and poverty and in the next few years it will allow us to gauge the effect of the work already underway to support New Zealanders.”

The report can be viewed at: https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/monitoring/household-incomes/

SOURCE: Office of Anne Tolley