Latest fromSocial Welfare
Winz breach: Key calls for full review
Prime Minister John Key has called for a Government-wide review of online information after the Government's largest security breach.
Blogger unlikely to be prosecuted
A barrister in privacy law says it is unlikely Keith Ng will face legal action for publishing the fact he'd seen a security gap in WINZ computer systems.
Winz alerted to breach last year
'I sent through an email from work to head office to let them know that this problem existed,' a beneficiary advocate says.
Tapu Misa: Child abuse plan shows a lack of vision
"Paula Bennett is right when she says poverty isn't an excuse for child abuse," writes Tapu Misa. "There is no excuse for child abuse."
Hunger strike ends with big breakfast
A Northland beneficiary has broken his 30-day hunger strike with a "Broadway Breakie" complete with eggs, sausages, hashbrowns, bacon and two flat whites.
White Paper misses opportunity
The proposed new multi-agency plans for each child, backed by an IT system accessible by all agencies, should have been set up years ago, writes Simon Collins.
Protester's plea to minister
A hunger striker on his 27th day without food has written an open letter to Social Development Minister Paula Bennett pleading with her to stop "stalling policies" on food grants.
Govt eyes school-food aid
Food programmes for hungry Kiwi schoolchildren may soon get a boost from the Government to top off an overwhelming public response to recent media appeals.
Residents asked to billet homeless
As Wellington tries to find creative solutions to its housing problem, city residents are being called on to offer their spare rooms to the homeless.
Hunger striker hopes to meet Bennett
Disabled hunger striker Sam Kuha is hoping to meet Social Development Minister Paula Bennett in Auckland tomorrow.
Tapu Misa: Still searching for right way to help poor kids
Good teachers matter, but the problem with conflating education and poverty is that the focus can narrow unhelpfully on one piece of the puzzle, writes Tapu Misa.
$1 meals boost kids' health
A Putaruru school serving up compulsory breakfasts and hot lunches for just $1 a meal says the benefits are showing in students' dental records.
Gareth Morgan: Benefit tightening won't reduce unemployment
Gareth Morgan says the Social Security Amendment Bill could be the "most irrelevant sideshow" in the circus that is tighter targeting of social benefits.
Benefit tests only for the most at risk
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has admitted the Government does not have the resources to test all beneficiaries under tough new welfare reforms.
Teen welfare hard, some say
Teens among the first "guinea pigs" for a new money management system for welfare say they get enough for food - but not for transport, baby supplies and medical costs.
Children go hungry amid plenty
A quarter of primary and intermediate pupils in poorer Waikato areas go to school hungry, researchers have found.
Welfare reforms pass first reading
The bill pushing ahead with the Government's second wave of welfare reforms passed its first reading in Parliament today.
Hammer attack on Winz office
A disgruntled disabled Work and Income client allegedly smashed two windows at the department's Kaikohe office with a hammer.
'The jobs just are not there'
Jack Daylight came to protest against welfare reform because he wants a job. He was arrested yesterday outside the Ministry of Social Development's office in Auckland.
Ex-MP arrested at protest
Former MP Sue Bradford and four others will appear in court on Friday after a protest action at the Ministry of Social Development's Auckland regional office today.