Beneficiary numbers have dropped across all three Northland districts as national welfare numbers hit their lowest point in five years.
However, a Whangarei beneficiaries advocate says benefit cuts are unfairly penalising children.
Just-released Ministry of Social Development figures show 17,519 Northland residents received benefits in the three months to March 31 - close to 350 fewer than during the same quarter last year.
The quarterly drop was even more pronounced, with the number of Northland beneficiaries in the March 2014 quarter falling more than 970 from the previous three months.
The number of welfare recipients has dropped in the Far North to 7799, in Kaipara to 1803 and in Whangarei to 7917.