A caregiver who admitted defrauding the benefit system of more than $274,000 says she did it because she "believed that she was two separate people".

Just over half of voters support extending Working for Families in-work tax credits of at least $60 a week to beneficiaries.

When Robin Vinod turned 17, he couldn't sign a tenancy agreement or be responsible for bills - but that was when CYF left him to fend for himself.

We don't really see the street. Most of us don't even look. Kids look, as I'm about to find out, but we adults, most of us walk on by, our attention fixed on anything other than that dude over there

The Government claims it has detected thousands of welfare fraudsters, though Labour is questioning how many have actually committed fraud.

A doctor's certificate is often a ticket to social welfare. From this week it becomes a recipe for work. At least - that's the hope.

Youth services are meant to be the model for transforming our welfare system from "gatekeeping" to "coaching" but results so far in Papakura are patchy.

Young beneficiaries share their experiences of work requirements. Intended to be 'motivational' some say staff are 'pushy' and 'racist'.

Going back to work left Jan Berry either $23 or $40 a week worse off than she was on a benefit.

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

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

Three children under 5 and a sick husband didn't save Carla Bradley from being told to prepare for work.

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.

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.

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

Instead of recriminalising begging, a better guide is the Homeless Action Plan the old Auckland City Council initiated in 2005, writes Brian Rudman.

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

Bob Jones asks: "How have we descended to this situation where so many citizens feel no moral qualms in living off their fellow citizens' toil?"

Editorial: Campaigners for the legalisation of cannabis must be watching with interest. While the law would apply only to synthetic equivalents, it might be hard to deny the same tests to naturally grown leaf.

A state house with 19 people living in it has been identified as one of the homes receiving more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded benefits each year.

The Government says there are 29,000 fewer Kiwis receiving benefits since the last quarter - including hundreds who had theirs cut after being caught claiming them unfairly.

With four children, solo father Jamie le Bas has the odds stacked against him.

The biggest changes to the child support system in more than 20 years have been signed off in Parliament today and will come into place in April next year.

A family with three autistic children have been told they need to manage their children's behaviour if they want to get a state house.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, will launch a scathing attack on churches and charities that oppose the Government's welfare cuts.

Child poverty is not a party political issue; it is a moral and ethical issue, writes Susan St John. "It may have been possible some time ago to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the prevalence of child poverty in NZ."

Welfare benefits will go up by just 0.61 per cent from April 1 because the Government has decided not to give beneficiaries any compensation for higher cigarette prices.