Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Student loans are contributing to growing inequality

Student loans are contributing to growing inequality

Student loans are contributing to growing inequality, says TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs.

Statistics New Zealand released data today showing that the top ten percent of households now own over half of the country’s total wealth.

The data shows extreme inequality between ethnicities. People of European ethnicity had a median net worth of $114,000, compared with $23,000 for people of Māori ethnicity, $12,000 for Pacific people, and $33,000 for the Asian ethnic group.

Riggs says part of the cause for this destabilising inequality is student loans.

Young people (aged 15–24) had the lowest individual median net worth of any age group – just $1,000. The most common debt for young people is education loans.

Riggs says student loans place huge financial pressure on people on low incomes.

“It is much harder for non-Pākehā people to grow their wealth during their life when they are saddled with debt liabilities that cut away such a huge proportion of their current wealth.

“The high cost of studying also means it is harder for Māori and Pasifika people to get a tertiary education.”

Median education loan liabilities are only one-tenth of Pākehā people’s median assets, but they are a quarter of Māori people’s assets and over a third of Pacific people’s assets (table 7.01).

The data shows that the households with the smallest median net worth have the largest median education loans (table 2.02). These loans make up nearly a quarter of their total debt (table 2.03).

Over a third of households within the poorest quintile of net worth have education loans, whereas less than a tenth of households in the wealthiest quintile have education debt (table 2.04).

Riggs says New Zealand has to cut the cost of education if it wants to restore a more equal and balanced society.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On National’s Fantasy Trip To La La Landlord Land


How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is:
(A) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was touting to voters last year has now blown out to $2.9 billion. (That’s a 38% size error in the calculations.)
(B) unable to provide assurance that this handout won’t simply be pocketed by landlords
(C) unable to explain why Treasury (in research as recent as August 2023) wasn’t citing the loss of interest deductibility as a prime factor driving up rents.
More than anything, the Great Landlords Handout undermines the government’s alarmist talk about the state of the country’s books...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.