More Claim Social Development Benefits During May

Sunday, 15 June 2025, 8:36 pm
Article: RNZ

Latest numbers show 27,243 more people received a benefit in May, compared to the year before.

The Ministry of Social Development's monthly update shows the number of people on a benefit in New Zealand rose by just over seven percent to 403,311 in that time.

The unemployment rate is 5.1 percent.

Most of the increase is due to people accessing JobSeeker support - there was an 11 percent rise of just over 21,000, to a total 213,831.

In May, 9.5 percent more people found work, compared to the same time last year, but eight percent more benefits were cancelled than a year ago - a total of just over 6000 - for other reasons, including sanctions.

The Government aims to reduce the number of people on the Jobseeker Support benefit by 50,000 by 2030, introducing a traffic-light system and new non-financial sanctions, and changing the re-application for job seekers to every six months, instead of each year.

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