The Brown Cost of Living – By Kahurangi Malcolm
The costs of basics are going through the roof causing even more hardship for those most vulnerable in our communities.
With essentials like housing, transport and food costs going up by 5.9% according to the consumer price index, whānau and ‘aiga are having to make decisions about whether they fill their car to get to work or buy food to put on the table.
This is the reality our Māori and Pasifika communities are facing as we head into winter and human necessities like having a warm dry house become absolute luxuries experienced only by the wealthy.
Māori and Pasifika dominate the lowest income bands in Aotearoa with an employment base in low skill, low wage jobs that pull them deeper into the cycle of inescapably living week to week. Māori have the lowest median income of all ethnicity groups with a median weekly income of $1,020.
For those on the lowest income bands, basics like rent, petrol and food make up 75% of their total income, leaving very little of an already low income as ‘disposable income’ for other things such as mobile, medical and education costs.
With a median rental cost of $600 per week in Manurewa, a suburb dominated by Māori and Pasifika, it is easy to see how even the median income won’t stretch the distance to cover the cost of living, let alone anything below the median.
Māori and Pasifika median incomes still had not recovered from the global financial crisis (GFC) when the pandemic hit and working poverty exploded. There is increased reliance not just by unemployed but by full time workers on Ministry of Social Development (MSD) support just to get by. This means working families cannot afford all of the essentials, which is an absolute travesty.
Whilst we celebrate the record low unemployment rates in Aotearoa, this simply does not apply for Māori and Pasifika.
The Auckland unemployment rate for Pākehā was just 3.1% and 2% for Asian peoples in Quarter 1 of 2022. For Māori and Pasifika peoples though, it was 8.1% and 7.7% respectively. For Māori, this unemployment rate was 2.6 times more than Pākehā, and for Pasifika peoples, 2.4 times higher. So, it is not “record low unemployment” if you’re Polynesian.
Māori underutilisation paints a similar picture with Māori underutilisation at 15.4% compared to 9.3% for Aotearoa as a whole.
What we must also keep in mind is that we are still in the ‘honeymoon period’ of the pandemic in that employment has been buoyed by wage subsidies and pent-up demand. There is always a lag between the event and the worst effects.
If we look at the GFC as an example of what could come, it took 11 years for Māori unemployment rates to drop back to March 2008 levels following the recession. During these 11 years, the average unemployment rate was 11.3%, a rate that was never experienced by Pākehā even at the peak of unemployment post GFC.
Whilst rising living costs are hard for everyone, we know that Māori and Pasifika are faring worse and are most in need of targeted support.
The upcoming budget announcement is set to be a Cost-of-Living Budget with political parties critically aware of the uproar caused by price increases across the board. The Southern Initiative hope to see targeted support for Māori and Pasifika addressed in the budget announcement with particular focus on the areas where our people are based i.e south and west Auckland.
About the author:
Kahurangi is from Ngaati Te Ata and Te Waiariki. She was schooled in total immersion Māori at Te Raki o Pukekohe and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Waiuku. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master’s in Business Administration and completed her research on Māori Economic Development. She previously worked for Waikato’s Economic Development Agency supporting business growth and Māori Economic initiative, Amotai Supplier Diversity NZ. Kahurangi is now Intrapreneur - Māori outcomes with The Southern Initiative.
Kahurangi is passionate about systemic change and loves seeing Māori businesses succeed.
References:
https://stats.govt.nz/information-releases/labour-market-statistics-march-2022-quarter
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/16892-maori-in-the-labour-market-june-2021-quarter-unadjusted
https://www.stats.govt.nz/reports/te-pa-harakeke-maori-housing-and-wellbeing-2021
https://berl.co.nz/economic-insights/sky-high-cost-living-explained
https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-place-summaries/manurewa-local-board-area