Nelson MP Rachel Boyack said sunshine wages have long been a problem in Nelson - where people are expected to earn less for the privilege of living in such a beautiful place (file image). Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Nelson and Tasman have long been known for sunshine wages - but a new report shows the average wage earnings in the region are the lowest in New Zealand.
At $60,048 a year, they are 14 percent below the national average ($69,585) for 2022.
The report also found housing affordability had declined to the third worst in the country, with people in the region spending 53.8 percent of their income on their mortgage, compared to the national average of 37.5 percent.
"We've just got to be really super careful all of the time and it's so exhausting"
For one Nelson woman, who had been a librarian for 13 years but earned little more than the living wage, the figures were unsurprising.
"I'm reminded every time I see my paycheck and struggle to pay the basic household bills," she said.
The woman said she and her partner lived paycheck to paycheck and the mortgage on their small flat took up a significant portion of their income.
"If we get an unexpected bill like a car repair or an appliance needs repairing, we've got to put it on the credit card and just pay it off slowly and we cut back on our basics at the grocery store to be able to afford that. We try to make all of our own food, grow what we can, we don't buy alcohol, cigarettes, anything like that.
"We're just got to be really super careful all of the time and it's so exhausting."
A man in his 70s who works part-time in the health sector, caring for young people with disabilities, said retirement was not an option.
"Not in the foreseeable future no, not unless I wanted to cut back my costs to an extent where it would be existing rather than living."
He had worked in the disability support industry for more than 15 years, a job where people started on minimum wage.
His last pay rise was about 70 cents an hour and he chose to live in a caravan because he did not want to spend a huge chunk of his income on housing.
"Even were I to work a 40 hour week, I would not earn enough to afford a flat or a house in Nelson. I live in a motor camp in a caravan, the rent in the motor camp is relatively low at just over $100 a week.
"As that happens, I choose to live here but as it also happens, I have no choice but to live here."
Another woman who worked as a public servant moved to Nelson to buy a house. She commuted for work - to the capital.
"I've stayed in my job and continue to commute to Wellington for work as changing jobs ... would be a significant pay cut and my mortgage is dependent on both mine and my partner's income.
"I know at least for others and the same or similar positions to me, we had good salaries in Wellington and the Nelson market just doesn't match it."
Nelson MP Rachel Boyack said sunshine wages have long been a problem in Nelson - where people were expected to earn less for the privilege of living in such a beautiful place.
"We do have a lot of labour intensive industries that do traditionally have low wages and then we also have real pressure on housing because it's such a desirable place for people to retire to and move to.
"That pressure between availability of housing and lower wages has been part of the Nelson story for many decades, unfortunately."
She said lifting the minimum wage was one of the single most important things the government could do to support those in the region.
"It also falls to local businesses to really look at their wage profiles and say should we be paying people more for the work that they do, and, and ensure that comparisons are being made around the country.
"If you've got someone in a job that is maybe paid less than they would be in another part of the country, that's something the business should look at, because we have to move away from that sunshine wage approach."
Nelson Budget Services financial mentor Tessa Bell said the organisation was seeing all-time high demand for support, with appointments booked out a month in advance.
"What we're seeing now is a change from the lower income and to the middle income we're certainly seeing an increase in people as their mortgage rates increase that's really leading to people needing to look at a whole raft of changes in their personal finance."
Nelson had long been a low-wage economy, particularly in the service industry, she said.
"It's pretty clear that people earning sunshine wages don't really have the time or the energy or the money to enjoy the sunshine.
"We live in an amazing area, it's beautiful here, there's so much to see and do, but if you're working 50 to 60 hours a week on a minimum wage job, you don't really have the time."
She would like to see more employers offer their staff the living wage - to help improve the quality of life for those on low incomes.