Latest from Social Welfare

John Armstrong: 'Market' swept under social housing rug

It is difficult to erase the suspicion that the social housing policy is motivated by ideology as much as anything else, writes John Armstrong.

Catriona MacLennan: Benefit debt punishment out of all proportion to 'crime'

Why are we burdening some of the poorest mothers in the country with lifetime debts while writing off the tax debts of some of our richest citizens?

13,000 fewer people on welfare

Latest figures show 309,145 people, or 11 per cent of the working-age population, were receiving a benefit at the end of December.

Top 10 wrongly paid benefits: $2.14m

The ten largest amounts of wrongly acquired benefits totaled more than $2.14m last year - but advocates say most of the $23 billion paid out was genuinely needed.

Innes Asher: Low-income families' safety net needs repair

The latest figures show nearly one quarter of our 1.1 million children under 18 live in households with very low incomes after housing costs.

Huge need, but where's the donations?

The queues start about 3am each day, but the Auckland City Mission says just a third of the donations it needs this Christmas have been raised.

1am queue for Mission's food parcels

Hundreds of families from as far away as Hamilton are queuing at the Auckland City Mission for help to put food on the table this Christmas.

Foster care teens' efforts win awards

Nineteen youths with unsettled upbringings were honoured for their outstanding achievements at a special ceremony yesterday.

Dita De Boni: ChCh locals left out in the cold

When I was in Christchurch recently to interview the two main candidates in the Christchurch Central electorate, I was shocked to see that people on the street seemed even more weary than ever.

Loan scheme to knock out 'loan sharks'

Almost 1 million families will be eligible for low- and no-interest loans under a new Government-backed scheme aimed at saving low-income families from "loan sharks".

Dr Ellen Nicholson and Jenni Mace: How to keep our youth safe and in homes

Dr Ellen Nicholson and Jenni Mace detail six ways to keep young people safe through adolescence.

Woman on benefit despite $1m assets

A terminally-ill divorcee faces being evicted from her home despite being owed nearly $1 million, after her case was put off for three months while a judge is on holiday.

Efforts to cut long-term welfare boosted

The Government is putting another $100 million into getting beneficiaries such as solo parents and the sick into work and stopping them ending up on welfare in the long term.

Budget 2014: Tertiary fees slashed

Government will slash tertiary tuition fees for science, agriculture, and some health science courses, Budget 2014 shows.

Budget 2014: Beneficiaries left out

While young working families got treats in the Budget, there was nothing extra for beneficiaries' pockets - the key welfare announcement was an extra $25 million a year to help get beneficiaries back into work.

Budget 2014: R & D tax break for startups