Christchurch mayor Bob Parker says the city has moved from a state of emergency "to a state of urgency" and significant problems remain.

Twenty-three people have reportedly been evicted from quake-damaged council flats without warning.

Business owners in central Christchurch are anxious about their shops being sealed away from customers behind cordons a week after the earthquake.

The first round of quake-affected businesses signed up to the Government's wage assistance package will see money in the bank tomorrow.

Finance Minister Bill English has asked banks and the Inland Revenue Department to be flexible with Christchurch earthquake victims.

Two former sex workers who have been without an income since a six-month job scheme ended on May 21 were granted unemployment benefits yesterday.

Police have been called in after a Govt "sting" of secondhand appliance dealers found some allegedly conniving with beneficiaries to deceive Work and Income.

The number of young people aged 20 to 24 with no income almost trebled between 1996 and 2006, according to new figures.

Winz has started bumping people off the invalids benefit, months before new work tests officially come into force, beneficiary advocates say.

An ex-gangster's wife has admitted using documents to dishonestly claim $12,000 from taxpayers.

New laws to make sole parents look for work after their youngest children turn 6 will be phased in over several years, the Govt says.

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

The Minister of Maori Affairs is warning that people using a 'Maori Traveller's Permit' instead of a driver's licence will be prosecuted.