Even the ‘rich’ can struggle
Fewer than one in five households reported they had more than enough money.
Barnaby Joyce. For many that’s probably the punchline to a great joke. The Australian MP’s life is often portrayed as something of a cautionary tale, a former deputy prime minister whose ambitions were levelled by personal failings and political pratfalls.
He appears to have suffered another this week, with the revelation, inspired by concern for Australia’s economic battlers, that he too struggles to make ends meet. On a salary of NZ$219,000. Excluding perks, which take it closer to $300,000.
Cue laughter and derision, much of it deserved. You know you’ve possibly missed the mark when even One Nation’s Pauline Hanson is doing the measuring.
But whatever your thoughts on a man struggling to financially support his estranged wife, their four children, plus a new partner and two other kids, some of his complaints will resonate with many people. Some of whom might earn not that much less than Joyce.
Many readers will understand the warmth of a rug pulled around the shoulders at night, because the heater is considered too expensive; they too may have decided a meal out has become an extravagance and thus a rarity.
That sense of struggle, of a lifestyle that doesn’t match the liquid assets, is backed by the numbers.
New Zealand families with a household income of between $100,000 and $150,000 should be able to count themselves fortunate. They make up some of the more wealthy in the country.
But figures show they are struggling.
Stats NZ’s wellbeing survey last year revealed
34 per cent of households within that income range reported not enough money or only just enough money to keep the wolves from the door. Fewer than one in five households reported they had more than enough money.
Interestingly, even those earning a lot more, like Joyce, are struggling. One in five New Zealand households earning above $150,000 claims to have not enough or only just enough money to get by.
These numbers are supported by KiwiBuild. Labour’s programme was never created to fix the social housing shortage, but it is still surprising that individuals deemed to be struggling to buy a property include those making up to $120,000 a year, with the limit for household earnings set at $180,000.
That too suggests all is not what it seems with the economy. Look beyond the headline acts and it appears a little shaky.
The Government is happy to talk up near-full employment, but how much of this could be characterised as under-employment, with some having to work two or three jobs to cover what used to be earned with one.
Interest rates are low, with some commentators predicting further drops, but they appear to mask a slowing economy and building concern.
Joyce appears to be something of a buffoon, akin to political counterparts Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
But as the past few years have shown, even a fool can offer occasional insight. And when it’s the fool highlighting the fallacy or inequity, the rest of us should take some notice.