KEY POINTS:
The Government is planning to remove terms like "domestic purposes benefit" and "invalids benefit" from use when it introduces a single core benefit next year.
Social Development Minister Ruth Dyson said the core benefit would modernise the welfare system.
"The Government will remove the stereotyped language and bureaucracy of a bygone era," Ms Dyson said.
"This will ensure than Work and Income respond to people as individuals rather than as categories."
Ms Dyson said as part of the changes Work and Income would move to closer case management around "clients" with packages of support from multiple agencies.
"The need for unnecessary paperwork is being reduced, along with the elimination of outdated terminology such as `invalid' or the `Domestic Purposes Benefit'," Ms Dyson said.
From April 2009 Social Development Ministry forms and brochures will refer to "income support" rather than benefit names.
Ms Dyson, who also released a report on household income today, said there would be changes to special needs grants from August this year.
From August the annual amount of financial assistance available through the special needs grant for food would double.
The maximum available - up to $550 for a family with three children - would remain the same but apply to 26 weeks, not a year.
There were 280,000 special needs grants for food in the year to May 2008.
Also from August the maximum emergency grant will rise from $200 to $500.
Around 15,500 emergency grants were made in the year to May 2008.
- NZPA
