John Key says proposed reforms of the welfare sector will be rolled out in the lead up to the general election, and he says the system should make it clear that people must support themselves if they can.

New Zealand's official unemployment rate has fallen from 6.8 per cent to 6.6 per cent, says Statistics NZ.

Women's refuges say some women fleeing from violence may no longer be able to get...

Welfare agencies alarmed at extreme lengths some people go to just to eat. One desperate case of a Bay of Plenty child and his three siblings has been offered as a stark example of the degree of poverty in our communities.

A flat tax could create a system that benefits everyone, says Andrew Gawith

Mothers with young babies and sick and disabled people on benefits would be forced to look for work under a proposed overhaul of NZ's welfare system, which would see all benefits replaced by a 'jobseeker payment'.

Prime Minister John Key says he is open to work-testing beneficiaries when their youngest child turns three.

The Government won't consider reductions to main benefit levels including the sickness, invalid's, unemployment and domestic purposes benefits as part of any welfare overhaul recommended by the Welfare Working Group tomorrow.