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.

Making begging an offence at law counters many years of positive action by Auckland City Council and will serve only to criminalise beggars. writes Cathy Casey.

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.

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.

Editorial: A large number do not understand the consequences of not finding a job. They leave for Australia without realising they will not have access to most of that country's welfare safety net, including dole and disability payments.

Stripped of his own right to permanent residency and citizenship in Australia, he has become a tireless advocate for other New Zealanders caught by the 2001 changes to Australian social security rules.

A South Island couple in their 50s has admitted taking nearly $180,000 in welfare benefits over 23 years.