Latest FromSocial Welfare
![Refuse a state house at your peril](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Refuse a state house at your peril
Applicants who are "too picky" will be removed from the waiting list under stricter new rules.
![Beneficiary numbers up in Canterbury, down in Auckland](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Beneficiary numbers up in Canterbury, down in Auckland
Welfare rolls have risen in Canterbury for the first time since reconstruction work began after the 2011 earthquake.
![Help for hungry kids in bag](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Help for hungry kids in bag
It's a simple formula: buy a delicious lunch, and a hungry child will get one too.
![Editorial: Child poverty needs more direct action](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Editorial: Child poverty needs more direct action
The latest report tells us 29 per cent of children lived in poverty in 2014, up from 24 per cent the previous year. About 14 per cent live in material hardship, lacking several of the items most New Zealanders would consider essential.
![#itsnotchoice support campaign takes off](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
#itsnotchoice support campaign takes off
The Children's Commissioner is overwhelmed by the public response to his new social media campaign.
![NZ families crowded into one house](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
NZ families crowded into one house
An alarming number of Auckland families are being forced to live together in one house so they can afford rent and living expenses.
![One in three Kiwi children 'living in poverty'](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
One in three Kiwi children 'living in poverty'
The number of NZ children living in households earning below 60 per cent of the median household income has almost doubled.
![Greater funding for housing developments](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Greater funding for housing developments
The Government has a long-term plan of introducing "milestone payments" for non-government providers which improved the social outcomes of their tenants.
![Former foster child driven by upbringing](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Former foster child driven by upbringing
When Daryl Brougham was 11, his social worker said: "Daryl, the way you're going, you're going to end up in jail."
![More Kiwis face homeless old age](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
More Kiwis face homeless old age
Growing numbers of Kiwis risk becoming homeless in old age because of falling home ownership rates, rising rents and static housing subsidies, the Salvation Army says.
![Report shows 'desperate housing shortage'](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Report shows 'desperate housing shortage'
The Citizens Advice Bureau said the shortage was experienced not just in Auckland and Christchurch, but nationwide.
![31,000 lose Winz benefits](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
31,000 lose Winz benefits
More than 30,000 New Zealanders had their benefits cut last financial year for travelling overseas without letting officials know.
![Rodney Hide: No welfare equals no dependency](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Rodney Hide: No welfare equals no dependency
COMMENT: Tuhoe boss Tamati Kruger wants the tribe to be independent and free of welfare dependency - which is a good thing, writes Rodney Hide.
![Tuhoe takes its own path](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Tuhoe takes its own path
Welfare, says Tuhoe leader Tamati Kruger, is a "disease" that has sapped the motivation of his people.
![Editorial: Deportees have harmed Kiwi interests](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Editorial: Deportees have harmed Kiwi interests
Editorial: While it is in our interests to provide all reasonable assistance to enable them to establish a new life here, we should not sympathise with their predicament too much.
![Moira Lawler: Finding better ways to help troubled families](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Moira Lawler: Finding better ways to help troubled families
The CYF review panel recommends a child-centred system, "where the voices and needs of children and young people are at the forefront of everything the agency does".
![Kerre McIvor: Even beggars deserve dignity](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Kerre McIvor: Even beggars deserve dignity
They don't deserve to be swept off the streets like just another pile of rubbish, writes Kerre McIvor.
!['Cash cow' boy loses transport](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
'Cash cow' boy loses transport
The disabled boy social workers said was being used by his alcoholic mother and her boyfriend has lost access to a vehicle specially modified to meet his needs.
![Analysing catalogue of misery](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Analysing catalogue of misery
It is a grim glimpse of the front line of social work - an 1100-page dossier of abuse and misery cataloguing the life of Benjamin*.
![Alcoholic mum used boy as 'cash cow'](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Alcoholic mum used boy as 'cash cow'
Severely disabled child used by his alcoholic mother and her boyfriend to access up to $80,000 in benefits.
![Holding girl in cell for days 'unacceptable'](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Holding girl in cell for days 'unacceptable'
It is extraordinary that a West Auckland teenager was held in police station cells for four days because CYFs could not find a bed for her, Labour says.
![Camper must quit city pitch](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Camper must quit city pitch
Rangi Tikitiki's is tired of "being a refugee in my own country", he's been on a waiting list for a Housing NZ home since before he began camping at the park.
![Mapping the cost of our at-risk kids](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Mapping the cost of our at-risk kids
Every person in the country aged up to 17 has been screened for factors that could later see their life take a turn for the worse - and cost taxpayers.
![Flat packs give teens a leg up](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Flat packs give teens a leg up
"These kids just need a chance, it's really hard at 17, they are too old to be in the system but too young to have rights."
![A life reborn at skatepark](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
A life reborn at skatepark
Walz Brown works quietly behind the scenes for the youth of Manurewa, always mindful of how a helping hand, a skateboard and his son lifted him from a life of drugs, drink and despair.
![How we can save vulnerable kids](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
How we can save vulnerable kids
Fixing child abuse and neglect is all about building relationships with families in need, social workers say.
![The global rules of escalator etiquette](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
The global rules of escalator etiquette
Should you walk up the elevator to help quicken everyone's journey, or remain still to keep everything orderly?