Lectures, talks and seminars

Stout Seminar Room, 12 Waiteata Rd, Kelburn Campus

Presented by


Description

Determining whether incomes are ‘adequate’ is often argued to be entirely subjective. While there are different views about adequacy, these views need to be informed by evidence and analysis. Example families and budgets provide an important perspective on the adequacy of incomes. They provide a tangible and relatable assessment of the difference between people’s incomes and their expenses at the level of an individual family and are an important complement to survey-based, population-level information such as rates of low-income poverty and material deprivation.

This seminar outlines the analysis of example families and budgets completed for the Welfare Expert Advisory Group, which considered the incomes of people receiving benefits and in low-wage work and estimated their expenses to meet basic/core costs and to meet the costs of participating in their communities and outline the key assumptions and findings from this analysis.

The background paper can found online.


Speaker Bios

The Welfare Expert Advisory Group was established in May 2018 to undertake a broad-ranging review of New Zealand’s social welfare system to meet the Government’s vision for a welfare system that ensures people have an adequate income, are treated with respect, can live in dignity and are able to participate meaningfully in their communities. The Welfare Expert Advisory Group's report was released on 3 May 2019, alongside a suite of background papers and evidence briefs. The example families and budgets work is one of these background papers. Polly and Daniel completed this analysis for the Welfare Expert Advisory Group. Polly and Daniel have significant experience in advising recent governments on the income support system and poverty-related matters.


For more information contact: Deborah Levy

deborah.levy@vuw.ac.nz 04 463 5305