Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

Last time I looked Latvia is not in New Zealand.

You clearly have no idea of how seasonal work or how it is for seasonal workers in New Zealand nor how it works.

I will repeat. I am actually on the ground here I know how it goes. Period.

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

;)This whole discussion is based on a report that New Zealand doesn't do well for wellbeing of children. You have measuring points that compare to other countries, so based on the report, Latvia has fewer jobless households and the kids are better off there?




No offence but I could say the exact same to you:
You clearly have no idea of how seasonal work or how it is for seasonal workers in Latvia, Hungary, Slovenia, Israel, Bulgaria nor how it works.

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

Richard Murphy wrote this overnight and it could apply equally as well to NZ's uncaring government:

"Thatcher put it in a nutshell, of course. She said there was no such thing as society. And she meant it. Neoliberalism says there are only markets. And contractual relationships. But no obligations. No duty. No care. Just mercenary relationships"

https://tinyurl.com/ybpnasm8

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

Yes, agreed. NZ had a golden age when there was almost full employment and the disparity between wealthiest and poorest was one of the smallest in the world. Those facts are not unrelated, as LoCarb points out. To enable some people to get very rich we need unemployment to create job scarcity, drive down wages and make people accept poverty as individual failing rather than a deeply flawed system that is serving some at the expense of others.

Some would be very very few of the thousands of families in poverty. Having time for your kids is no gain at all if you're suffering the extreme stress of real poverty, which isn't just about getting by on a bit less for a few months.

This is faulty logic/ nonsense arguing. :blink: It's not EITHER parents work full time yet still don't have enough money OR families are in poverty but the parents have more time to spend with the children. It's better for the children (and the parents) if there is enough household income to ensure that the family is not in poverty. That's born out in an avalanche of research.

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

True, NZ was once highly socially progressive, initiating programs that others copied, considered to be on a par with the Scandinavian countries in it's liberal social programs.

This of course made NZ very attractive to British migrants escaping post-war deprivation through the 40's to 70's.
NZ had a high standard of living, second only to the US in the 50's.

After Britain joined the Common Market, NZ lost access to a UK market that had existed for 100 years, and following the oil shocks things went down hill rapidly.

Because NZ was still on a fixed exchange rate (ended in 84) the government had to defend the NZ$ through it's foreign currency reserves obtained through trade.

Prime Minister Muldoon was borrowing from overseas to prop up the economy and put in place a wage & price freeze trying to control the inevitable inflation.

Understandably, Muldoon was defeated in the 84 election and the progressive Labour leader David Lange was elected.
But he was ambushed by the Monetarist in his cabinet, and neoliberalism became the new paradigm that is still with us today.

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

Is this the same organisation that has NZ at 15th for education (Australia is a 39th, UK at 20th)?

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

Is this the same organisation that has NZ at 15th for education (Australia is a 39th, UK at 20th)?

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

geoff52 is a bitter and twisted troll that didn't have the points for NZ and had to go to Canada instead! Mods have asked him to stop trolling, but he hasn't stopped, I told him to p**s off back to the Canada page but got edited by Mods!!

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

I know that but the whole point is that this report has several sources and people are comparing New Zealand to other countries. It's pointless and even poor families in New Zealand are still better off than in many other countries.


Many children in some of the mentioned countries can't afford to study and when they do, they actually have to move abroad to make a living with a minimum wage job. You rarely see a doctor or lawyer from New Zealand move abroad to work in a supermarket.

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

Regardless of you being there, this person will argue to the end that his data is more accurate over your experience.......Hes an absolute expert on NS too :rofl:

Re: Wellbeing of NZ's children places us 34th out of 41
 

Thanks:thumbup: