Early investment in young people

Todd Muller MP for Bay of Plenty. Photo/John Borren

We know from the evidence that if you carefully target , the benefits over a life time can be significant - for themselves, their families, and for wider society.

That's why Budget 2016 includes a $652 million Social Investment Package over four years to help the most vulnerable New Zealanders by intervening and investing in public services tailored to their needs.

The package includes:
· $200 million for new services and support for vulnerable children and young people, as part of a wider $348 million spending boost in the care and protection of our vulnerable youth.
· $61 million to extend the Youth Service to more young people to help them into training and education.
· $50 million to support people into work, including those with complex health conditions.
· $43 million for around 150,000 students that have been identified as being the most at risk of educational failure.
· $40 million to support around 2,500 more whanau in the Whānau Ora programme.
· $36 million for warmer, drier and healthier homes and $20 million to re-integrate ex-prisoners into the community.

Social investment is one of the key tools the National-led Government has to drive changes that will help improve the lives of our most vulnerable people.

We are overhauling New Zealand's child care and protection system.

A new child-centred approach will sharpen the focus on prevention, intervention, care support services, transition support and preventing youth offending and reoffending.

Budget 2016 supports this new approach and meets increased demand for existing services, which will help to keep our young people safer and healthier, and leave them better equipped to lead full lives into adulthood.

In these ways, the Budget's Social Investment Package builds on the Governments approach to welfare over recent years. We have reduced the number of beneficiaries to the lowest level in eight years - while our decisions over the past four years have reduced the welfare system's estimated fiscal cost to future taxpayers by $12 billion.