Today's unemployment figure has surprised many, with most - including the Reserve Bank, expecting a figure well under 7 per cent.

Angela McCarthy finds a company helping women get back to work.

An official survey has found that families with children are far more likely to be in hardship than any other New Zealanders.

For some families, the dole is a better option than Working for Families tax credits. Simon Collins investigates what's wrong.

Cliff Robinson has invested a lifetime raising his disabled son and daughter and is fighting the Government to lighten his load.

Private-school scholarships for poorer students have been attacked as an "elitist" use of taxpayers' money.

If some beneficiaries are too dangerous to be dealt with face-to-face, their benefits should be cancelled says Kerre Woodham.

Beneficiaries who undergo a review after a year on an unemployment benefit will not lose that assistance if they can't find work, Paula Bennett says.

A man who lived in a state house while he rented out two properties of his own has been sentenced for defrauding the taxpayer.

Thirteen of the 20 highest-paid beneficiaries and almost a third of those on more than $1000 a week are looking after other people's children.

Free trips for pensioners on Waiheke Island ferries are under review because they are costing the SuperGold Card scheme too much.

NZ's biggest benefit fraudster manipulated a web of offshore accounts from prison in a bid to hide the $3.4m he stole from taxpayers.