Judith Collins
National Party Families Spokeswoman

26 November 2006

Report confirms families are not better off under Labour

The Labour-led Government has squandered a golden opportunity to make families better off, says National’s Families spokeswoman, Judith Collins.

She is responding to reports of a research project led by Prime Minister Helen Clark's husband, Peter Davis, an Auckland University sociologist, which found that:

• The median family income, after adjusting for inflation and family size, was just over $37,000 in 2001 – the same as it was in 1981.
• In the same period, the proportion of working women rose from 47% to 61%.

“Put simply, families are not better off under Labour,” says Ms Collins.

“Families on middle and low incomes have ended up just holding their own.

“Even though more women are in the workforce, two or more incomes don't seem to be making it financially easier for families.

"It is clear from this report that things haven’t got better under Labour.

“Sure, there are more people in employment – but it's low-paid employment.

“Twenty years on, family incomes have stayed the same, and that is despite the excellent export prices and the booming economy since 2000.

“So much for Labour's so-called ‘family friendly’ policies.

“More people are working, but they are working for the same money and that is doing nothing to close the income gap between New Zealand and Australia.”

Ends

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