Prime Minister Bill English has begun his political year by lifting the minimum wage by 50 cents an hour, so that a full time worker on minimum wage will take home an extra $18.75 per week (before tax, student loan and Kiwisaver).
The extra $18.75 a week would be okay, if it wasn't for the out of control housing market, which has seen, according to numbers reported by the Rotorua Daily Post, average rents increase by $45 per week in the past 12 months. So if you're a renter in Rotorua, despite the raise in minimum wage, you're still going to be $26 a week worse off than you were 12 months ago.
In my opinion, the minimum wage should be no less than the Living Wage, which the New Zealand living wage movement determines as $19.80 per hour. This is the bare minimum amount that it was determined a working family needs to earn in order to "live with dignity".
The recent stream of businesses becoming living wage accredited, such as Rotorua's Ponsonby Road Lounge Bar, has proven that it is viable to both remain in business and pay a living wage.
Plus if we really have a "rockstar" economy, as the National Government like to proclaim, then businesses should have no trouble paying their staff a wage which allows them a dignified life. Until such a time, those on the breadline will be stuck, trying to listen for a riff on the wind, instead of being on the inside enjoying the "rockstar" economy with everyone else.
