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social services councils of the churches published a series of papers refuting the myths
about poverty.
Benefit Dependency
In 2002, an average of 5.2 per cent of the labour force was unemployed and actively
seeking work. The unemployment rate has steadily declined since 1998, although in
2002 it still remained higher than it was in 1986. 28
Maori
The government’s Progress Towards Closing the Social and Economic Gaps Between Maori
and Non­Maori report from Te Puni Kokiri in 2000 demonstrated that Maori continue to
experience poorer health status, lower income levels, higher unemployment and higher
rates of prosecution and conviction. In addition, they attain fewer educational
qualifications and have lower rates of home­ownership than non­Maori. 29
Maori make up about 13 per cent of New Zealand’s inhabitants. They have the
lowest education achievement levels, the poorest health, the worst housing conditions
and the highest unemployment rates, and they make up nearly half the prison
population. Economist Brian Easton, when interpreting Te Puni Kokiri’s report, stated
that the Maori poverty rate is over 50 per cent more than that of non­Maori. 30
Children and Youths in Crisis
At the end of the 1990s, 25,000 families, or 5 per cent of the total number of all New
Zealand families, were in a cycle of entrenched disadvantage. 31 Between 1986 and 1999,
the proportion of children aged under 18 with a parent on benefit rose from 13 per cent
to 26 per cent, while the average income of young people aged 15–24 dropped by 45 per
cent. 32 The New Zealand youth suicide rate in 1990 was among the highest in the
OECD. 33