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Drop in New Zealand welfare numbers sparks row over work results

Xinhua, April 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

The number of New Zealanders on welfare has fallen below 280,000 for the first time since 2008, the government announced Thursday, sparking a row over whether beneficiaries are in fact finding work.

"The number of people receiving a main benefit has fallen by 4,369 (1.5 percent) in the year to March 2016, taking the total number of people receiving a main benefit to 279,891," Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said in a statement.

The reduction was driven by a fall in the number of single parents receiving a benefit as they become required to look for work.

However, the main opposition Labour Party said the figures failed to show any evidence of better employment outcomes for people coming off welfare and more information was needed.

Despite the drop in the number of beneficiaries, fewer people were going into paid employment or study, Labour social development spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni said in a statement.

"It should be of significant concern to the minister that there has been a decrease in the numbers of people who are going into employment or full-time study when they come off the benefit," she said.

"We see increasing signs of poverty on a daily basis all around the country and we're hearing more and more about families who are surviving on next to nothing." Endit