Rarely does an economist's work capture the attention that Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century has.

The most notable item in the Government's third term agenda outlined to Parliament yesterday is an intention to hold "job fairs" in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane aimed at New Zealand....

Paul Brown wanted to be an architect but I wasn't artistic enough. I've rebelled against that (King's College stereotype) a bit. I'm a maverick I suppose.

Catriona MacLennan writes: Low family incomes and high rents are the two key sources of poverty for my legal clients. The third is huge debt associated with car purchases.

Five days of tinned vegetables, lean meals and no snacks are over for Petra Bagust's family who joined thousands of Kiwis voluntarily living below the poverty line this week.

New figures show 9 per cent of solo parents in Auckland had their benefits cut for travelling overseas, but advocates say they had good reasons to travel.

We are already paying for the offspring of poverty, writes Lucy Lawless. Hungry kids are sick kids - so feeding them in schools is a smart strategy.

He was about 13, coming towards me on the downtown footpath. I could see he intended to say something, so I prepared to tell him the time, or where the nearest public loo was.

Teacher Peter Lyons says he's finally learned a valuable lesson - life isn't fair, so he explains why he's decided to vote the right way this election.

Dr Harold Williams has long been featured by Guinness World Records as the world's greatest linguist. He spoke 58 languages.

As his hard-hitting TV series about New Zealand’s biggest challenges draws to a close, Nigel Latta reflects on what he knows now

In health, the election has become a bidding war focused on the new centre ground of free doctor visits.

Pinepine Savage holds proof in her own life that it is possible to turn around a town that everyone had written off.

New Zealand has retained its rank as one of the world's most developed countries.

Kiwi donors are sponsoring three African children - in Mt Roskill. The trio came here as refugees in '08 need the sponsorship because the family can't make ends meet.

Is poverty for life? A Treasury report suggests not, writes Brian Fallow. Only 24 per cent of those at the bottom decile in 2002 were there seven years later.

100 low-income families were asked what they needed to get out of poverty. Here are their answers.

Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple, authors of Child Poverty in New Zealand, rightly fume at the nonchalant political response to the finding of serious errors in measured child poverty.

In 1898 New Zealand was favoured with a visit from Sydney and Beatrice Webb. This English couple were early members of the Fabian Society, a progressive political movement that was an important driver in the formation of the British Labour Party.

Ghetto kid turned presidential hopeful Ben Carson is in New Zealand to help celebrate as the Duffy Books in Homes scheme turns 20.

There are children in New Zealand living in circumstances that are not much different from those in the slums of Delhi, says Jonathan Boston.

Editorial: Book launches can be a trap for unwary authors. Eager to gain the maximum publicity for their work, they face an ever-present temptation to gild the lily.

The poorest Kiwi children are now no better off than some children in the slums of India, a leading author says.

The richest 10 per cent of New Zealanders are wealthier than the rest of the population combined, according to figures cited by Oxfam NZ.

Children are coming and going between the country's poorest primary schools at a rate equivalent to half the schools' total rolls every year, a report has found.