The better debate would have been comparing the impact of parenting vs societal and economic inequalities. Poverty is quite a loaded term and a label many of us rightly so do not want to accept. But inequality affects most of us directly. The challenge when talking of inequality though is that the debate at some point has to examine those at the top, not just those in ‘poverty’.
]]>As we said last night, the $30,000 figure (which we worked out from the Children’s Commision report as roughly 60% of the median income for a family of four) was disposable income after housing costs. So after tax and after housing.
If you put those tax and housing deductions back in, I’d be interested if that changed your view. While that income is horribly low, it’s also incredibly close to the average NZ gross wage of around $49,000 – which is the point Guyon was making. Can you really say someone living on almost the average wage is living in poverty?
]]>The big difference I see is, I don’t drink, smoke or take drugs. I sacrifice everything so my kids can attend the usual activities that their peers attend, including extra curricular activities, such as sports, music.
I don’t consider my family as poor. I don’t consider my children know anything about poverty.
I ensure that.
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