Labour’s economic mismanagement has taken New Zealanders backwards, with real wages lower today than they were when National left office, National’s Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says.

Official data shows that since Labour came to office in 2017, real wages have fallen by 3.5 per cent.*

“Labour’s failure to deliver a plan that addresses the underlying causes of inflation has seen the cost of living skyrocket, eating away the purchasing power of New Zealanders’ pay.

“Prices have been increasing faster than wages, stretching household budgets ever thinner and sending Kiwi families backwards.

“Meanwhile, the Government has been on a record spending spree, spending $1 billion more each week than when National left office, with little to show for it.

“Labour’s band-aid approach has failed. A real economic management plan is needed to get inflation under control and ensure Kiwis’ real wages grow.

“National would tackle inflation by stopping wasteful spending and bringing discipline back to the Government’s finances, fixing worker shortages, reducing costs to businesses, adjusting tax brackets for inflation and returning the Reserve Bank to a single mandate of delivering price stability.”

*Explainer: Since 2017 the Labour Cost Index (LCI) measure of wage growth shows an increase of 11.5% (Parliamentary Library), while prices measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI)  have increased by 15.5% (Parliamentary Library).  Deflating wage growth to account for these price increases shows Kiwis’ real incomes have fallen by 3.5%.