RNZ: Dr Oliver Hartwich on why cash payments will not lift the birth rate
Dr Oliver Hartwich
3 August, 2026
Dr Oliver Hartwich talked to Wallace Chapman on RNZ's The Panel about NZ First's plan to pay parents $5,000 a year for a child's first three years, and why the money is unlikely to shift a fertility rate that has slipped to just under 1.6 children per woman.
Schemes like it overseas have typically failed, including Australia's baby bonus, which rewarded parents who were having children anyway, and Dr Hartwich suggested that anyone serious about lifting fertility should look instead at the cost of housing, which pushes couples to start families later. Listen below.