This graph shows that in 2004 New Zealand’s poverty rate was exactly the OECD average (11%). The poverty threshold is half of the median (the middle) household income. So in New Zealand 11% of households had incomes below that level – compared with the United States (17%) and the United Kingdom (8%). In terms of households with people aged 65 or over, New Zealand had the lowest level of poverty in the OECD – a result of the country’s superannuation provisions.