Here’s a worrying trend: the only thing keeping up with inflation in New Zealand right now, is the property market.

Gosh, that’s like taking two boots to the face in one kick.

Which do we consider is the more devastating blow; money in New Zealand becoming worth progressively less, or the fact that buying a house in New Zealand now requires more worth-less money than ever?

This issue began with a misunderstood, undervalued and underappreciated, minimum wage; for whatever reason, many young Kiwis leave school with few qualifications thus, often while they get their life sorted or begin the process of working their way up to bigger things, they will take a menial job at a lower wage.

Minimum wage.

Here is the misunderstood part: there is nothing unfair about the minimum wage, it is simply a low wage intended for inexperienced workers reflecting their lack of formal education and/or qualifications.

Minimum wage is not supposed to be a lot of money and, certainly, it is not supposed to result in financial freedom; it is supposed to be a safety-net for those folk who are still young enough to have minimal expenses and who are unable or just unwilling to dedicate themselves to the forging of a career through years of study and/or training.

Problem with the Government right now, in fact, problem with every bloody Labour Government in memory, presumably an effort to elicit that ‘younger-working-class’ vote, they seem forever to be raising the minimum wage.

As somebody I know once pointed out, all that is achieved by raising the minimum wage is the increasing of inflation; it sure as hell doesn’t making living easier, anyway – all it effectively does is increase the cost of living.

How can successive Governments not understand this?

They have Economists, Finance Ministers, and other currency-savvy people on their team; how can they not comprehend an aspect of currency which I managed to glean in Fifth Form Economics class (which was, incidentally, the one School Cert subject I did fail)?

Seemingly, in New Zealand, we like to compare ourselves to big sister in the west, Australia; problem there is that she has over five times the population that we do, thus she has over five times the commerce, five times the cashflow, five times the everything, so how the hell can this whinging piss-ant of a younger sibling ever be expected to live up to big sister?

We can’t, we need to stop trying; need to stop thinking we need to.

Here it is, guys, a basic formula that, even as a snotty-nosed fifteen-year-old on the way to failing School Cert Economics, I could understand; bigger wages lead to bigger consumer demand which leads to bigger living costs which lead to bigger housing market which leads to bigger requirement for money which leads to bigger demand for increased wages…

Bigger, Bigger, BIGGER, BIGGER!

…Cool it, minimum wagers, either do the work and secure a higher paying job or simply, learn to live within your means, stop demanding; stop complaining and be happy.

Easy.

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by D Marn Ding

Photography by Fie Nance-Sez