Andrew Leigh has posted some useful figures on his blog that are worth pointing to next time someone suggests that politicians should be paid more. He has provided a rough percentage breakdown of the annual income of individuals and households.  In short, it whows that only 2 or 3 per cent of the population earn over the $120 000+ a year which politicians get.

The figures also show that an individual earning $80 000 a year is a high income earner, but a household with an overall income of $80 000 is about mid-range. Which is also a stark reminder of just how big a struggle it can be for the many households who have a level of income well below that.

St James Ethics Centre also has a thread on the topic.

Andrew Leigh’s figures are as follows:

Individuals
1% $0
5% $0
10% $0
25% $1,620
50% $19,440
75% $48,600
90% $75,686
95% $97,416
99% $175,532
Mean: $32,337
Households
 1%        $10,389             
 5%        $18,036            
10%        $25,920            
25%        $46,252            
50%        $80,826               
75%       $122,040       
90%       $172,152       
95%       $217,555       
99%       $388,368       
Mean: $95,542

I should note that am not intending to engage in some easy politician bashing – perhaps not surprisingly I think most of them work harder and make more sacrifices than they are usually given credit. But the argument that we should provide higher pay to get better quality politicians is rubbish. There are things we could do to improve the performance of our politicians (most it based around improving the way politics itself operates), but paying more money isn’t one of them.