The 'Family First' group has put an interesting idea into debate for this election year.

Almost 60 per cent of Kiwis want subsidies for stay-at-home parents introduced, according to a new poll conducted by Family First.

A 71-year-old man on the waiting list for a state house said he was told to "live in his car and then call back" to speed up the process of getting a home.

New Zealand has the fourth-highest rate of child deaths from assault in the OECD. Simon Collins visited three communities to look for the root causes of that bad child abuse record. First: Flaxmere.

A survey which revealed access problems to the child disability allowance has raised more questions than answers.

The Labour Party is by no means alone in worrying what to do about 74,000 young people who are in neither employment, education or training.

Despite feeding her family on a tight budget, this Porirua mum is changing lives with her food parcel initiative.

Minister Anne Tolley says the UN Rights of the Child committee in Geneva asked her 250 questions but only one on child poverty.

COMMENT: To reduce inequality, politicians need to ensure Maori views are not frozen out by mono-cultural agencies and majority decisions.

Vulnerable children will be placed in foster care more quickly, and their foster parents will get more flexible pay, under law changes outlined today.

COMMENT: The rewrite of the Social Security Act is a good time to abolish the sanctions altogether.

A brief liaison with a man she didn't know cost a young Auckland woman $28 a week off her benefit for two years.

Retirement has become an outdated concept for 140,000 New Zealanders who have reached 65 and are still clocking in to work.

Retirement used to be synonymous with receiving National Superannuation. Not any more.

COMMENT: Heart-breaking stories of families living in cars, garages and overcrowded houses demonstrate that our welfare state is broken, writes Catriona MacLennan.

The Government will pay beneficiaries $3000 to move to cities such as Auckland for work.

Society's most vulnerable will receive a $650 million funding boost spanning health, welfare and education services aimed at helping those at-risk "lead better lives".

COMMENT: Tale of two women: tax credit system leaves those without a partner for support at an unfair disadvantage.

The Labour Party appears to be considering a radical new system of social welfare. It is hard to see any real benefit. It would be a universal setback.

Taxpayers' Union says Labour Party plans for "universal basic income" will come with hefty price tag.

Rising rents are believed to be driving a 46 per cent jump in food parcels being handed out each month by the Auckland City Mission since the middle of last year.

Applicants who are "too picky" will be removed from the waiting list under stricter new rules.

Welfare rolls have risen in Canterbury for the first time since reconstruction work began after the 2011 earthquake.

It's a simple formula: buy a delicious lunch, and a hungry child will get one too.

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.

The Children's Commissioner is overwhelmed by the public response to his new social media campaign.

An alarming number of Auckland families are being forced to live together in one house so they can afford rent and living expenses.