KEY POINTS:
The Government's Working for Families tax credit scheme has exceeded its original target a year ahead of schedule.
"It's making a big difference for low and middle-income families with children," Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday.
"Around three-quarters of the families receiving the package are earning less than $50,000 a year."
The estimate was that it would reach 360,000 families but by March last year it was helping 370,000 families.
Miss Clark and Social Development Minister Ruth Dyson said the figure had been achieved a year ahead of schedule.
An evaluation report by Inland Revenue showed most families were getting $125 to $150 a week under the scheme.
A working family earning $45,000 a year with two children received $317 a fortnight more in tax credits than it did before the scheme was introduced.
The report said the three most common uses of the extra money were groceries and food, school costs and clothing.
It said that since the scheme was launched there had been the largest fall in the number of families receiving the Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB) since it was introduced in 1973
The figure had fallen from by 12,500 - from 109,700 in August 2004 to 97,200 in August 2007.
- NZPA
