Welfare in New Zealand

[1] However, a regular unemployment benefit was not introduced until the passing of the Social Security Act in 1938; that benefit was "payable to a person 16 years of age and over who has been in New Zealand for at least 12 months and is unemployed, is capable of and willing to undertake suitable work, and has taken reasonable steps to secure employment".

The Unemployment Benefit gross rate at 1 April 2011 ranged between $150.01 and $375.04 a week depending on the applicant's age and living situation.

The Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB) was introduced in 1974 following the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Social Security.

People receiving DPB – Sole Parent are encouraged to name the other partner and to seek child support payments.

There is a financial penalty for Sole Parents (section 70A of the Social Security Act 1964) who do not seek child support without sufficient reason.

"[8] Ruth Dyson, Minister for Social Development and Employment, reported, "...the main reason for people leaving the unemployment benefit is to enter paid work.

Then Minister for Social Development and Employment David Benson-Pope later stated that, when implemented, the reforms will move between 3,000 and 6,000 people off the Sickness Benefit.

[12] This established some key features of public pensions in New Zealand, such as the use of general government spending rather than individual contributions, and a "pay as you go" rather than an actuarial approach to funding.

[13] The Third Labour government introduced a compulsory superannuation scheme in 1975, according to which employees and employers each contributed at least 4 per cent of gross earnings.

[13] A move to a partially pre-funded or "smoothed pay-as-you-go" system came with the establishing of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund under the aegis of Labour Minister of Finance Michael Cullen in 2001.

In July 2007 the Fifth Labour Government introduced KiwiSaver as a voluntary retirement-savings scheme on top of New Zealand Superannuation.

An added incentive for younger people is the ability to make a one-off withdrawal from their KiwiSaver fund to help to buy their first home.

A family allowance was introduced in 1926, payable at two shillings a week for each child over two years old, but still subject to means testing.

[23] A woman with two children received the equivalent of at least a full day's pay for a labourer as benefits, unlike wages, were not taxed.

Most women received more as the average number of children born to mothers in the 1950s was 3.4.On 1 April 1946, the family benefit was increased to 10 shillings a week and the means test was dropped.

This increased family benefit was payable for all children up to the age of sixteen, or up to the end of the year when the child turned eighteen if they were in full-time education or unable to earn a living due to incapacitation.

[25] The family benefit was increased to 15 shillings per week per child in 1958–59, and was able to be capitalised up to a maximum of £1000 when buying, altering, or paying off a home from 1959 to 1960.

This fixed an income floor above the statutory minimum wage for persons with dependant children in full-time employment.

In 2018 the Sixth Labour Government implemented numerous measures to reduce acute hardship and provide assistance for families.

[35] Among the early forms of social welfare in New Zealand was the old age pension, introduced by the Liberal Government in 1898.

The scheme was introduced to avoid what MP William Pember Reeves described as the "worst social evils and miseries", referring to the British workhouses where the elderly lived in spartan institutional circumstances.

The small-scale scheme that resulted from this legislation can be seen as a precursor to the much larger state housing introduced by the first Labour government in the 1930s.

Under the Act the Government introduced a raft of social welfare benefits, mostly means tested, that were more generous and covered more people than before.

The fourth Labour government did not overtly change the main welfare system, however, real expenditure per benefit recipient fell.

[clarification needed] In the early 1990s the fourth National government embarked on a free market programme aimed at reducing public spending and 'dependence on the state'.

As a result, these policies were widely known as "Ruthanasia" after Finance Minister Ruth Richardson, although the welfare portfolio was managed by Social Welfare Minister Jenny Shipley who oversaw major cuts in her portfolio and abolished the Universal Family Benefit.

An attempt in 1994 to end the Special Benefit was opposed by the Labour Party (who ostensibly abolished it in 2004) and community organisations.

[37] The impact of these changes was particularly pronounced as the unemployment rate was high due to the 1987 stockmarket crash and the cost-cutting programmes of the previous fourth Labour government, which had reduced the staff of many state services.

The cutbacks were, however, only partially reversed by the fifth Labour government but inflation meant that in real terms benefits are still lower before April 1991.

[5] Susan St John and Louise Humpage have also commented that the changes "wipes away any notion that our social security system is about ensuring everyone can participate as citizens.