Today, Statistics New Zealand's latest labour market report revealed that unemployment has reached 4.8 per cent, the highest rate since late 2020, during the COVID pandemic.
"The Government's economy for the rich is leaving thousands behind," says the Green Party's Spokesperson for Social Development and Employment, Ricardo Menéndez-March.
"We can build an economy that works for everyone and leaves nobody behind by investing in the public services and infrastructure which support our communities as well as programmes like jobs for nature that provide people with meaningful and stable work.
"The unemployment rate has hit the highest level since COVID, and this is down to the coalition government relying on making people unemployed to lower inflation while prioritising tax cuts, slashing public investment, and undermining the construction industry.
"Losing a job shouldn't condemn families to poverty, yet successive Governments have set benefit levels below the poverty line and pushed ahead with sanctions that entrench hardship.
"Instead of punching down on those doing it the toughest and pushing more children into hardship, the Greens will lift all families out of poverty with a Guaranteed Minimum Income.
"This Government's punitive approach to welfare and public investment is clearly not working. The Government has engineered an economy that punches down on our communities, one without jobs that simultaneously punishes people for not being able to find work.
"Poverty is a political choice, one that successive governments have chosen not to address. However, with unemployment rising and households experiencing wave after wave of financial strain, there is no better time than the present to end poverty and introduce an Income Guarantee.
"This is a policy we campaigned on and will continue to push as disparities in wealth widen and the incomes of people on the breadline stagnate.
"The Income Guarantee is a commitment to every New Zealander that no matter what, your income will never fall below $390 per week, after tax. For couples, our Income Guarantee will be at least $780, and a single parent will always have an income of at least $750.
"The Greens would support people into work with a supportive welfare system, more training opportunities, and restarting public investment in healthcare, schools, and houses that create good jobs," says Ricardo Menéndez-March.
- Statistics NZ data for the September quarter can be found here.
- The Reserve Bank's Financial Stability report can be found here.
- The Income Guarantee 2023 election policy can be found here. Rates have been adjusted for inflation.
