Sickness will be at best only a temporary excuse to avoid work under the new welfare regime that came into force this week.

School ball costs have soared as social pressure leads more girls to spend up to $300 in salons.

Doctors have been told that putting patients on welfare is akin to putting them on "an addictive debilitating drug ... not dissimilar to smoking".

An welfare advocacy group is warning that thousands of Kiwis will suffer under newly implemented changes to the beneficiary system.

Even being the sole carer for triplets can't excuse Jared Chase from work obligations under the new welfare regime.

Devaluing the outsider is probably the most common cult-like behaviour in everyday society, but it's not so easy to identify one's own crazy faults, writes Deborah Hill Cone.

Sole parents have got a clear message from today's welfare upheaval - planning to go back to work has to start from the moment a baby is born.

A couple embroiled in a battle with Immigration to prove their love is real are moving to the South Island to keep their dream of remaining in the country alive.

Hopefully the agreed provisions in the bylaw for socially responsible intervention to deal with the problem of begging will remain intact. writes Mike Lee.

The Govt says it's on track to reach all 10 of its public-sector targets on welfare, crime and health - but admits there could be some "bumps" on the way.

Auckland Council commissioners who want to ban begging have lost the plot. They do not recognise that no one wants to beg. We live in a society that encourages winners to take all and beggars to take what they can get.

When did this country become so mean? Did it begin in the 1980s, when greed became good and success became more about what you had than the sort of person you were?

Mick Brown is the little boy lost saved by a loving foster family, who went on to spend his adult life giving back.

About one in six Australians cannot afford to rent a home, with young families - especially single parents with children - among the worst affected, new reports show.

Sixty per cent of parents of Kiwi preschoolers are concerned at the amount of TV advertising targeting their children, a study has found.

It's not just beggars who are coming in for attention - the Auckland Council is also considering changes to the rules around charity collectors, who approach people on city streets asking for donations.

It takes all sorts to make a city, and every large city in the world has beggars. Auckland is lucky - we have fewer than most.

A crackdown on beggars in Auckland has the support of police, who believe it could reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

I go and help my 5-year-old son with his storywriting at school a couple of mornings a week which means sitting in on mat time.

New Zealand principals have been warned they could breach the Human Rights Act if they stop students taking same-sex partners to their school balls.

Like most young people, Travers Brown wants his independence.