So, who else loses 25% of their wage increase?

Some beneficiaries are unhappy that a chunk of their benefit increase has been swallowed up by an automatic increase in the cost of their social housing.

When people live in social housing, the amount of rent they pay is tied to their incomes. Single people pay 25% of their income in rent when they earn up to $462.94 a week and then 50% of the amount over that threshold.

For people with children, the threshold at which 50% begins to be taken is $712.22.

One beneficiary, who wanted to be known only as Mike, said it was not fair. ‘‘Who, other than beneficiaries, is getting a 25% reduction to their wage increase or Cost of Living payment?’’

All main benefits increased by $20 a week this year compared to last July. Mike said he has now been told he will lose $5 of that in rent.

‘‘Social housing tends to clump people, including myself, who have generally had a less-pleasant life to deal with and thereby are more vulnerable to addiction, disease, crime ... in areas that are harder to move from.

‘‘However, they are – albeit slowly – beginning to benefit from better maintenance, healthy homes [standards].’’

People on the benefit receive a winter energy payment so they do not qualify for the Cost of Living payment.

Child Poverty Action Group spokesperson Alan Johnson said the increase should not have been a surprise.

He said there were lots of situations where clawbacks would decrease the value of money people received. It could also be a disincentive to taking on even part-time work, he said.

But he said there was a ‘‘horizontal equity’’ problem and people who were in social housing tended to be better off than those in private rentals, who did not have any restriction on how much of their income their rent could be.