New Zealand Raises Minimum Wage To RM58 Per Hour & Taxes For Top 2% To 39%

Ah, New Zealand! Home to Jacinda Ardern and maybe the Hobbits!

It has been announced that the minimum wage for New Zealanders will be increased to 20 NZ$ (RM58) per hour starting April.

This means that if a New Zealander is to work a minimum of nine hours per day for five days a week they would be able to earn a rough pay of 180 NZ$ (RM524) per day and 900 NZ$ (RM2,620) per week. A person who works for four weeks a month will earn 3,600 NZ$ (RM10,481). Bear in mind that this is just a rough calculation for the average New Zealander’s minimum wage. 

Jacinda Ardern said that with this move, they are actively moving towards protecting the country’s most vulnerable people. However, she has mentioned that there is still much to do, reported The Guardian.

“There is still much more to do, including building more homes, improving our health system, investing in education, training and job opportunities.”

Other than that, they have also increased the tax rate for the country’s top 2% who rake in more than 180,000 NZ$ (RM524,058) a year. The newly-revised tax rate for them is 39% while in Malaysia, those who earn more than RM2,000,000 per year are subjected to 30% of tax, according to LHDN.

Ever since Jacinda Ardern became prime minister, the minimum wage per hour has risen to a total of 4.25 NZ$ (RM12.40) from 2017 till 2021. In fact, the minimum wage per hour graph has risen from 7.55 NZ$ (RM22) in the year 2000 to 20 NZ$ (RM58) in the year 2021.

In comparison, Malaysia only introduced minimum wage per month in 2014 and it started at RM900. Seven years later, in 2021, the minimum wage has only been increased a total of RM300 to RM1,200 per month.

What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments.

Also read: “Only ministers’ salary increase here!” New Zealand Raises Minimum Wage & M’sians Are Annoyed