In the year to June 2021, average disposable household income increased 4.5 percent. This was supported by a number of government policies, including those in response to COVID-19, as well as a strong labour market, Stats NZ said today.
Increases to the main benefit rates and the doubling of the winter energy payment as a response to COVID-19, along with increases in rates from the indexation of benefits to average wages, saw average household income from government benefits increase 26.2 percent over the year.
The rates for New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran's pension also increased over the year, as part of the general adjustment that happens each year, leading to an increase in average household income of 8.7 percent for these sources.
| Income source | 2020 |
| Wages and salaries | 71072 |
| Self-employment | 16794 |
| Investments | 3404 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 7416 |
| Other government benefits | 4812 |
| Other regular sources | 2204 |
| 69935 | 72209 |
|---|---|
| 15618 | 17970 |
| 3173 | 3635 |
| 7342 | 7490 |
| 4677 | 4947 |
| 2045 | 2363 |
| Income source | 2021 |
| Wages and salaries | 72010 |
| Self-employment | 16581 |
| Investments | 3783 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 8059 |
| Other government benefits | 6073 |
| Other regular sources | 3952 |
| 70930 | 73090 |
|---|---|
| 15669 | 17493 |
| 3548 | 4018 |
| 7962 | 8156 |
| 5933 | 6213 |
| 3648 | 4256 |
Wages and salaries income and self-employment income were relatively unchanged from the previous year. This was due to employment returning to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the reference period (June 2021), as well as those sources of income being supported by the various wage subsidy schemes put in place over the year.
Income from employment is the largest component of household income, so stable employment incomes, along with increases seen in the other sources, saw average household total (gross) incomes increase by 4.5 percent over the year.
Labour Market Statistics: June 2021 quarter has more information regarding employment and unemployment during this time period.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Household Economic Survey year ended June 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Stats NZ's ability to conduct face-to-face interviews in respondent's homes and no other means of interviewing were available. Therefore, interviewing for the Household Economic Survey (HES) for the year ended 2021 was not conducted evenly over the whole year. Consequently, the sample size was reduced to just over 16,000 households from the planned 20,000 households.
This is consistent with what was achieved in HES for the year ended June 2020 when interviewing ceased in March 2020. The reduced sample size means sample errors on the statistics are higher than designed for. Stats NZ analysed the data to check for any impact of this change in interview pattern, but no discernible impact was noted and are therefore confident that the data is fit for purpose.
Stats NZ has revised previously published estimates of household income and housing cost measures for the year ended June 2020 using the most recently available administrative data from the Integrated Data Infrastructure and to use updated population estimates.
