It’s been a long time coming, but from 1 April 2016 a raft of small monetary increases to families in need were introduced:
- Beneficiaries with children will get an extra $25 a week and families earning less than $27,000 a year an extra $24.50.
- Parents who work a certain number of hours can also get an extra $12.50 of in-work tax credits.
- Paid parental leave is increasing by another two weeks to 18 weeks
- The adult minimum wage lifts by 50c an hour to $15.25
- New Zealand superannuation will increase by 2.7 per cent
These changes were signaled in the May 2015 budget.
The first two increases are intended to reach more than 380,000 children in low-income families and 190,000 children in benefit-dependent families.
NZCCSS supported thehttps://nzccss.org.nz/news/2015/07/supporting-children-in-hardship-bill/
The rise in benefits is the first in forty years, which could explain the incremental increase in child poverty since the 1980s, and there are expectations that this might not be a one-off.
All eyes now on Budget 2016.