A number of changes kicked in at the start of this month to lift incomes and to provide extra support to workers and families. These measures won’t fix everything but they will help to ease some pressure and I wanted to make sure people here in Tairāwhiti heard a bit more about this cost of living support.
From April 1, over a million New Zealanders started receiving a bit more in their pocket to help make ends meet. This included an inflation-adjusted lift for superannuation, benefits, veteran’s pensions and student supports, benefiting many in our community.
Working families in Tairāwhiti will now receive extra support through increases to Best Start payments and the Family Tax Credit. Changes to childcare have also come into force, meaning more than half of New Zealand families with kids are now eligible for subsidised childcare assistance. This makes childcare and before-and-after school care more affordable for more families.
People in Te Tairāwhiti should be confident that they can get ahead and create the life they want for themselves and their families through hard work. But right now, as global inflation is causing costs to rise around the world, it can feel pretty tough.
To support those workers who are really feeling the bite from the rise in the cost of living, we’ve increased the minimum wage by $1.50 to $22.70 an hour from Apri 1. This will see a fulltime minimum wage worker earning an extra $60 a week and around $3120 extra each year, before tax.
