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Thread ID: 144162 2017-07-27 01:45:00 What do they mean by "NZ a low wage economy" Digby (677) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1437684 2017-07-27 01:45:00 I keep hearing the term from politicians that New Zealand is a "low wage economy"

What do they mean?
Digby (677)
1437685 2017-07-27 02:30:00 They mean most people don't get much pay in their jobs these days.

Friend of mine Assistant Manager gets $20 an hour.
Big step up from 2IC at Mitre10 where she got $17.

Husband got 18 an hour when he left Telecom, in 1990>
Hasn't chnaged much since.

Thats what they mean.

Yes there are exceptions, and some places pay well, and no we are not comparing to India.
pctek (84)
1437686 2017-07-27 03:07:00 Dont be fooled by those quoting the "average wage"
That figure is BS & heavily squewed by those on very high salaries

the average person does not earn the "average wage"
The mean/median wage is much lower & a truer indication

eg 10 on 20K, 1 on 5Mil . so the av for that example is approx $86k . Tell that to those 10 on $20K.

Low wage: well NZ economy is based on tourism & farming (ie money coming in). Both traditionally low wage jobs.
All the talk of moving NZ into high wage & high tech is just that: its all talk .
Its so easy to say we should be a high wage country, talk is easy . Just words with no real plan .
1101 (13337)
1437687 2017-07-27 03:10:00 here its median hourly wages. About $23per hour = about $40k+
www.stats.govt.nz

Yet just today, on the news, mention of the AV Ak wage being $80k + . Just BS .
1101 (13337)
1437688 2017-07-27 03:46:00 Yet just today, on the news, mention of the AV Ak wage being $80k + . Just BS .

I don't know....if you have a bunch of CEOs and Seven Sharp media people on a million dollars or so and then some people on minimum wage....where does that leave the average...?
Meaningless really.
pctek (84)
1437689 2017-07-27 04:35:00 Way back in 1989 I was on $16 an hour. I may be way out in my "guesstimation" but I think that would be around $32 an hour today.
Back then I would have found it hard living on that had I been the sole household earner. No wonder people who are working find it tough going today.
Marnie (4574)
1437690 2017-07-27 05:02:00 OK,
So which are some high wage economies?
Digby (677)
1437691 2017-07-27 08:09:00 Supposedly IT is.
Although it depends what you do and for who.
Helpdesk, not so much.

Lawyers, TV people, rugby players, music people etc.
pctek (84)
1437692 2017-07-27 08:41:00 OK,
So which are some high wage economies?

en.wikipedia.org(PPP)_per_capita

Basically, tourism, hospo, and agriculture are never going to support a high wage economy.

You need an educated population, plenty of white collar jobs, and high levels of automation in manufacturing etc.
Nick G (16709)
1437693 2017-07-27 09:26:00 And a government that doesn't support the importation of cheap labour to drive down wages and conditions!!!! KarameaDave (15222)
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