Identification numbers attached to children as young as three could be used to track and punish their parents.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Identity fraudsters "systematically and methodically" stole more than $500,000 in benefit scams before being caught last year.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has made it clear she has no appetite to change the entitlements of New Zealanders in Australia.

Beneficiaries have overtaken Asians as the group New Zealanders consider to be the most discriminated against.

An East Coast man on the dole for 25 years is the longest unemployment beneficiary in the country and has been paid more than $260,000 in taxpayer money.

A New Zealand politician is lobbying his Australian counterparts about changing laws to allow New Zealanders a fair go.