The gap between the rich and poor has closed slightly in the first half of the recession as the well-off took a sharp hit on their investments.
Real household incomes for the top income group dropped by $2000 (3.1 per cent), from $63,700 to $61,700 per adult, in the 12 months to June last year.
Median income earners crept up by 1 per cent in real terms, from $31,300 to $31,600 per adult, and incomes at the bottom of the heap rose by 2.5 per cent, from $15,800 to $16,200 per adult.
The result was the sharpest closing of the gap between rich and poor since the gap started widening in the 1990s.
The gap widened further in New Zealand than in any other developed country in the 20 years to the mid-2000s, but the Working for Families package and now the recession have closed it slightly since then.