New Zealand raises minimum wage and increases taxes on the rich

mellowyellow

mellowyellow

Well-known Member
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New Zealand’s unions have been calling for minimum wage rises to reflect the sacrifice made by many low-paid essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: Kai Schwörer/Getty Images



New Zealand is raising its minimum wage to $20 an hour and increasing the top tax rate for the country’s highest earners to 39%.

The changes will be rolled out on Thursday, alongside small increases to unemployment and sickness benefits. The government estimates the minimum wage increase – a rise of $1.14 per hour – will affect up to 175,500 workers, and increase wages across the economy by $216m.

The new top tax rate will apply to anyone earning more than $180,000 a year, about 2% of New Zealanders. The government estimates it will bring in an additional $550m in revenue this year.
 

mellowyellow said:
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New Zealand’s unions have been calling for minimum wage rises to reflect the sacrifice made by many low-paid essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: Kai Schwörer/Getty Images



New Zealand is raising its minimum wage to $20 an hour and increasing the top tax rate for the country’s highest earners to 39%.

The changes will be rolled out on Thursday, alongside small increases to unemployment and sickness benefits. The government estimates the minimum wage increase – a rise of $1.14 per hour – will affect up to 175,500 workers, and increase wages across the economy by $216m.

The new top tax rate will apply to anyone earning more than $180,000 a year, about 2% of New Zealanders. The government estimates it will bring in an additional $550m in revenue this year.
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What I'd like to know is, what took NZ so long in implementing such measures.

As for Canada, I don't ever see it happening here, because the rich come first in our country, then everyone else last.
 

SetWave said:
Some day . . . the plutocrats will be crawling out from the cave to find more dollars for the fire.
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Exactly.

Taxing the rich (extra) and making it public was done strictly to draw publicity, the real cream on the cake will come at the end of this year or sometime early next, where hard-working folks will be informed that their taxes, too, will be going up.

By comparison, the hard-working pay out more taxes than the rich. It's been that way for eternity, and will continue to be that way until such a time when our countries are controlled by honest folk, not some echelon of greedy, lying thieves.
 
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They are raising the minimum wage to $20. That will be paid by employers. It will be a big boost to manufacturers of robotics and other automation solutions as employers try to find ways to replace workers with machines.

So why raise taxes? That's what I don't get.
 
JimBob1952 said:
They are raising the minimum wage to $20. That will be paid by employers. It will be a big boost to manufacturers of robotics and other automation solutions as employers try to find ways to replace workers with machines.

So why raise taxes? That's what I don't get.
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Countries around the world have dug themselves in account Covid-19, time to start applying some monies to that debt?
 
I'm 75 and have been through the minimum wage "crisis" before. Every time there is a push to up the minimum wage, we hear the same song. People are going to loose their jobs. Companies are going to go out of business. It's just horrible, horrible, horrible, it will wreck the economy. But what about raising prices???? Well, that's good business sense. Profits are declining. Declining corporate incomes. Oh horrible, horrible. Business needs price increases. I could never understand why businesses, who raised prices for profit wouldn't go out of business. But businesses who raised prices due to higher employee cost,, were all going out of business.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I'm 75 and have been through the minimum wage "crisis" before. Every time there is a push to up the minimum wage, we hear the same song. People are going to loose their jobs. Companies are going to go out of business. It's just horrible, horrible, horrible, it will wreck the economy. But what about raising prices???? Well, that's good business sense. Profits are declining. Declining corporate incomes. Oh horrible, horrible. Business needs price increases. I could never understand why businesses, who raised prices for profit wouldn't go out of business. But businesses who raised prices due to higher employee cost,, were all going out of business.
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My biggest pet-peeve today surrounding big business is the greed factor.

Back in the day seeing a solid return/profit was good enough, today not so. Today, big business needs to ROLL it in, and the instant a crunch happens, it's cutbacks, layoffs, restructuring, because heaven forbid, first quarters earnings fell to 1 Billion from 1.1 Billion. Oh the shame... the travesty.

Just goes to show how greedy our world had become. Simple profit isn't good enough any more, and I find the same mentality has formed in the smaller business world, where small stores and shops have come to adopt such practices, asking 2-3 times more for the same item I can get online.

We really do live in a belly-aching society nowadays that's tied to green and materialism.

Heaven forbid some greasy fat-cat at the top isn't making his or her $15 Million Dollar salary (with bonuses and stock options).
 
This first world country gets it right on so many things. The government has done an excellent job on COVID-19. Few Kiwis have loss their lives to the virus. They swiftly made law banning certain guns after the mass killing of Muslims by an Aussie. Now the increase in the minimum wage to take care of everyday workers. I have a lot of admiration for Prime Minister Ardern.

In 2019, I vacationed in NZ. It is a beautiful country.
 

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