New Zealand Minimum wage, benefits increase

From April and there have been changes to the minimum wage and benefits. The minimum wage has increased from $21.20 an hour to $22.70, and the starting-out and training minimum wage has increased from $16.96 to $18.16 per hour. Superannuation has gone up in line with inflation, as have main benefits. Best start payments have also increased by $4 a week. However, the National Party has commented that some workers will miss out on these increases. Additionally, ACT’s David Seymour has stated that the minimum wage hike could result in 5,100 jobs being lost. Tracy Mears, a policy director at MBIE, explained how the increase in the minimum wage would affect employers and employees.
“At 7% the model estimates that the restraint on employment is around 5000 roles but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a loss of jobs overnight, it could mean just a lower growth in future jobs. In context there’s around 220,000 people we believe will benefit from an increase in the minimum wage,” Mears said.