Why are beneficiaries not getting cost of living cash?
Budget 2022 will give a $350 cost of living payment for people on low incomes – but some say it is a move that avoids helping those who need it most.
More than 2.1 million people who earned less than $70,001 in the last tax year will receive the payment, which will amount to about $27 a week over three months, starting in August.
But people who receive the winter energy payment, such as those on sole parent support, the jobseeker benefit, veterans and people getting NZ Superannuation, are not entitled to the cost of living payment.
Child Poverty Action Group spokesperson Professor Emeritus Innes Asher said the Government decision did not serve the households in the deepest poverty.
‘‘This just reinforces that there was nothing of substance for people on the benefit in the budget. People on the benefit needed more, they are short hundreds of dollars each week to cover their basic needs for a healthy life,’’ Asher said.
She said that of the 150,000 children who live in poverty in New
Professor Emeritus Innes Asher Child Poverty Action Group
Zealand, many would miss out on the cost of living support payment because of the exclusion of beneficiaries.
Enabling beneficiaries to access full Working for Families credits, some of which they cannot get unless parents are working, would be a way the Government could provide targeted support to beneficiaries, she said.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson defended the exclusion of beneficiaries from the cost of living support payment and said the Government had already provided increases for those on income support. ‘‘Since coming into Government, the changes mean that 364,000 people who receive income support are better off by an average of $109 per week. For those with children, they are better off by an average of $175 per week,’’ Robertson said.
When the cost of living payment was implemented in August the Government would be supporting 81% of New Zealanders with targeted support, he said.
The Budget also contained further support for low-income New Zealanders, including permanent half-price public transport, child support changes, and raising dental care grants to $1000, he said.
Auckland Action Against Poverty co-ordinator Brooke StanleyPao said the move revealed a disconnect between the Government and those doing it tough. ‘‘The Government genuinely thinks that people receiving the winter energy payments are doing OK, well I can tell you from what we see out there, people are not doing OK.’’
A lack of knowledge of what beneficiaries were going through from MPs had created a lack of urgency to help, she said. ‘‘This is life and death for a lot of people. The Government has the power to improve the quality of life for people and at the moment they are not doing it.’’
Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen said that while the Government had increased benefits, it had done so before inflation set in.
‘‘Inflation has really shifted the goal posts for many people. We are seeing strong signs from the Government that where beneficiaries are at currently is less than the Government intended before inflation,’’ Olsen said.
‘‘People on the benefit needed more.’’