Govt making life more affordable
Cost of Living Payment supports more than 2 million
When I was studying at university, we had three kids aged 3 and under and my husband worked a low-paid job.
Our family just scraped by, and at the end of the week once all the bills were paid, we had $8 in the hand. Every single dollar counted!
The only relief came from a welcome increase in Working for Families under the Helen Clark government.
Fast forward to 2017, our Government has been working hard to lift incomes and make life more affordable for Kiwi families by:
Introducing the Winter Energy Payment providing more than one million New Zealanders with up to $80 extra a month to help with power bills through the colder months
Minimum wage increases since 2017 mean fulltime minimum wage workers now earn an extra $218 a week
Increases to Working for Families, superannuation, student allowance and main benefits from April 1
Working with the supermarket sector so Kiwis are getting a fair price at the checkout
Parental leave payments boosted by up to $40 a week
Free school lunches for more than 211,000 children
Free period products in schools
Removal of NCEA and school fees
GP visits are cheaper for more than half a million people, including free doctors’ visits for all children under 14
Best Start payment providing an extra $65 a week for parents of newborns
Now, as we move forward with our plan to grow a secure economy for all, we’re providing further cost of living support.
Our new Cost of Living Payment started from August 1, and will support more than two million New Zealanders, including many here in Kā piti.
You will likely be eligible if you earned $70,000 or less over the period April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, and are aged 18 or older, but aren’t eligible for the Winter Energy Payment.
There’s nothing you need to do to apply for the payment, and the income threshold is based on your individual income, not household income.
If you’re eligible, you will receive the payments directly from IRD.
However, IRD does need your correct information, so please take a few minutes to make sure that everything is up to date.
You can visit IRD’s website for more details: ird.govt.nz/ cost-of-living-payment.
This new Cost of Living Payment sits alongside our Winter Energy Payment, and, when taken together, these payments will support 81 per cent of New Zealanders aged 18 and over with their bills this year.
We’ve also recently extended the fuel tax cut, reduced road user charges and kept half-price public transport for everyone until the end of January next year.
This extension is a way we can help to make life more affordable, as well as providing more certainty in the face of volatile prices at the petrol pump.
It will also help reduce the fuel burden on businesses, keeping the cost of food and essential goods lower across the board.
There’s no easy fix to the current cost of living pressures, but the measures we’re putting in place will ease the pressure and make a difference for people in our rohe and across the country.
We’ve also recently extended the fuel tax cut, reduced road user charges and kept half-price public transport for everyone until the end of January next year.