Welfare Reform
An overhaul of the welfare system was a key promise of the Labour-Green agreement. Two years on and true transformation awaits. But a suite of payments and tax credits have boosted the incomes of 385,000 low-income families by, on average, $75 a week.
The Government commissioned a report by the Welfare Expert Advisory Group and received 42 recommendations in April, including increasing main benefits by up to 47 per cent, reforming Working for Family tax credits, and investigating rent-to-buy housing schemes.
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has accepted three recommendations so far. A sanction on solo mothers has been removed, and the amount beneficiaries can earn before their benefit is cut has been increased.
Critics of the welfare system say the Government has only made a first step, and are demanding the $7.5b Budget surplus be spent.
The numbers receiving welfare have expanded. In the past year, more are receiving a benefit, hundreds of thousands more are receiving hardship grants, and twice as many are receiving housing grants.
Work and Income staff have been instructed to make sure people are receiving all available entitlements, and more than 250 case managers will be hired in four years. The Government says reduced barriers mean thousands are receiving welfare they need. It says this is why, despite unemployment being very low, beneficiary numbers have risen.
Ardern said on Monday, "there are some barriers that have been removed by Work and Income, and I've been told that is making a difference".
Many say the Government has made a first step, tampering with hardship at the margins as housing prices continue to drag families under.
More people on Ministry of Social Development (MSD) books can, in part, be attributed to a change in Work and Income offices. Sepuloni has hired 263 "employment focused" case managers, and instructed staff to ensure people get the full entitlements available.
