World news

The Social Report is out

I'm a bit pissed off that the Social Report, which is finally out, is only available on the web, now. It means I`ll have to be near a computer to read it and I wont get my hard copy like in previous years. The media people from the MSD are a bit miffed about it too. It means that you can't get it out of any libraries, and if you don't have access to a computer you simply cant read it.

That is a real shame - the excuse is the standard one: cost-cutting.

But look at this. The economic standard of living is declining.
In the year to June 2008, 14 per cent of the population was living below the 60 per cent threshold. This was similar to the 13 per cent in the previous survey year to June 2007. The proportion of the population with low incomes rose sharply from 1990, reached a peak in the mid-1990s and has generally declined since then. However, in 2008, the proportion was still above what it had been in the 1980s as housing costs for low-income households have risen significantly as a proportion of their household incomes. Currently, 39% of families in the lowest quintile are spending more than 30% of their income on housing. That's twice what it was in the 1980's.

Time for an increase to the accommodation supplement.