International Experiences of Wage Supplements: New Zealand and the USA

Abstract

So far the focus in Social Security and Wage Poverty has been upon Britain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is not the only country which is attempting to address a range of policy dilemmas related to the economic and social implications of wage poverty. Countries in both global north and south are concerned with the labour market and distributional effects of such poverty.¹ Most importantly Britain is not the only country to have introduced wage supplements in the hope of addressing some of these dilemmas. So, for example, in their study of twenty-two nations Bradshaw and Finch (2002) found that eleven had allowances or tax credits which were dependent upon employment status,² while Immervoll and Pearson (2009) found that half (16 out of 30) of OECD countries had either time limited (transitional) or time unlimited (permanent) benefits for people in wage work, or both.³