COVID crisis heightens inequality in Aotearoa

Photo: Radio Waatea Image Database.

The Salvation Army’s latest State of the Nation report is warning New Zealand’s entrenched inequality has been magnified and exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19.

Social policy unit director Ian Hutson says while the Government’s response to the crisis greatly lessened its impact, the poorest and most vulnerable suffered the most, leaving many with a gloomy future.

The report says while there was some progress on income disparity and unemployment, other long-standing disparities between Māori and non-Māori are not improving, or are worsening, especially imprisonment rates and numbers of people joining the social housing register.

Last year the Salvation Army distributed more than 110,000 food parcels – double the number in 2019.

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