Christopher A. Sarlo: The Causes of Poverty

This paper is an inquiry into the causes of poverty. By poverty we mean a circumstance of serious deprivation where a person lacks one or more basic need—as opposed to a condition of inequality. 

The question we wish to try to answer is this: Why do some people find themselves in a circumstance of serious deprivation and, more importantly, why are some able to escape poverty fairly easily while others endure persistent, long-term poverty?

This study’s working hypothesis is that there are two broad categories of the “initiating causes” of poverty—bad luck and bad choices. 

Lindsay Mitchell: 'War on the poor'?

The weekend's Auckland protesters are styling their latest slogan after UK counterparts. The UK Labour Party officially launched a 'stop the war on the poor' campaign last year.

It's a powerful, catchy rallying-cry but what is this 'war'?

Sue Bradford talked on TV this morning about "ruthless" housing policies.

Lindsay Mitchell: Council of Trade Unions economist wrong on many counts

Council of Trade Unions economist had this piece published in the DomPost, December 27 (not on-line):

Lindsay Mitchell: In anticipation of Cunliffe's speech

Tomorrow David Cunliffe will bombard us with statistics about growing inequality. That can be measured in various ways - household income, individual income or wealth.

The best source of data is the Household Income Survey. Just to provide an alternate view, I've pulled out some of the graphs that show a rosier picture than the one Cunliffe is going to paint.

Reuben Chapple: Poverty Pimps

The usual bunch of economically illiterate poverty pimps recently hit the headlines demanding an $18 - $20 per hour “living wage” based on what they claim people “ought” to be paid. They do not say how this is to be accomplished, but above-market wages can only be achieved by government intervention: either legislating a higher minimum wage, or by raising taxes on those who have earned their money, in order to transfer it to those who have not.

Karl du Fresne: Since when was Coke cheaper than water?

Is it something in the water down Dunedin way? The University of Otago seems to produce more than its share of moralistic, finger-wagging academics, especially when it comes to matters of health and nutrition. They have a knack for turning every negative health statistic into an attack on free markets and, by implication, a government that is callously indifferent to the needs of the poor. It doesn’t seem to matter that their statements often fly in the face of logic and common sense.  

The Dominion Post reports that poor dental health is the most common cause of avoidable hospital admissions for pre-schoolers in the Wellington region. Pacific Island and Maori children are particularly susceptible, with rates of hospital admission several times higher than other groups.

Lindsay Mitchell: Something is growing but I'm not sure it's poverty or inequality

The Waikato Times reports :

"New Zealand's biggest growth industry isn't agriculture or manufacturing – it's poverty, a Waikato University professor says. Social scientist, Professor Darrin Hodgetts, said New Zealand was "growing poverty". "It's our growth industry and it's growing at three times the OECD average," Prof Hodgetts said ahead of a public lecture in Hamilton tonight.... New Zealand had gone from one of the most equitable societies – in terms of income  distribution – to one of the worst. "And the cracks are getting bigger."

Look at the following graphs from the OECD Factbook:

Lindsay Mitchell: The rich are getting poorer and the poor are getting richer

Reinforcing Simon Collins' recent series about income inequality, a NZ Herald editorial contains this statement:

The proportion of children in poverty - defined as households with less than 60 per cent of the median income to live on after paying housing costs - has risen from 16 per cent in 1990 to 26 per cent today.

The following table appears in the most recent Ministry of Social Development Household Incomes Survey: