Michael Littlewood

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Retirement income policies: what we know and what we don’t

Posted on August 6, 2017
By Michael Littlewood

New Zealand has a retirement income framework that, compared with the rest of the developed world, is closest to our ideal. However, that’s a low bar to clear. We can make things much better but we must start with impeccable, deep data.

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Are home-ownership rates really falling?

Posted on June 15, 2014
By Michael Littlewood

There is a significant problem with the data on home-ownership. There are too many gaps in the questions asked in the 2013 Census for us to be certain about any recent trends in home-ownership rates.

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New Zealand Superannuation is expected to be cheaper?

Posted on August 24, 2013
By Michael Littlewood

Those with any interest in policy issues that matter to New Zealand’s economic future know that we have an ageing population; that there will soon be twice the number of pensioners as now, with bigger increases in the number of ‘old old’ with concomitant increases in health costs.

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Are home ownership rates really falling?

Posted on July 6, 2013
By Michael Littlewood

In May this year, the Retirement Policy and Research Centre (RPPC) published a PensionBriefing: Census 2013 - shortcomings in questions about housing. It suggests that trends in home-ownership rates are less clear than many claim and may even have been relatively unchanged in the 30 years 1976-2006.