Benefits, Superannuation To Increase From April 1

Payments for beneficiaries, superannuitants and veterans will increase by between about $4 and $13 a week from April 1, Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey said today.

¡§The rise will help ease some of the financial pressures beneficiaries and others have been under recently,¡¨ said Mr Maharey. ¡§Not only do main benefits and payments go up, but a number of supplementary allowances also increase.¡¨

Benefit payments, student allowances, NZ Superannuation/Veteran¡¦s Pension and war pensions all increase from April 1 as part of the annual cost of living adjustment.

The increase of 3.98 percent in the net rates equates to the increase in the cost of living for the year to December 2000 as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Examples of the increases in the after-tax weekly rates are:

„h for an unemployed person receiving the community wage, or a full time student living away from home aged over 25, up $5.92 to $154.56;
„h for a married couple on the community wage with no children, up $9.86 to $257.58;
„h for a single person aged 18-19 years on the community wage living at home, up $3.94 to $103.03;
„h for a single person over 18 receiving the invalid¡¦s benefit, up $7.39 to $193.18;
„h for a sole parent with one child, up $8.47 to $221.37;
„h for a married couple who both qualify for New Zealand Superannuation, up $13.82 to $360.82; and,
„h for a war disablement pensioner receiving 100% disability rate, up $5.85 to $152.75.

The net fiscal cost of the benefit payments, student allowances, NZ Superannuation/Veteran¡¦s Pension and war pensions increases each year over the next two years is about $364 million a year.

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