A briefing to incoming Social Development Minister Louise Upston has painted a grim economic picture for low-income Kiwi families and revealed a spike in people accessing benefits across Aotearoa.

The Ministry of Social Development warned in its briefing document to the incoming ministers that working-age benefit numbers were forecast to rise from 351,700 in June last year to around 382,900 in January 2025.

“Demand for support from the ministry is increasing, in part because of [a] shortage of affordable housing and rising living costs, which affect other aspects of clients’ lives. We are seeing increasing complexity in clients’ needs, including mental health distress,” the document said.

The forecast rise comes as the number of people receiving a main benefit rose 7.7 per cent from September 2022 to the same month last year.

While the number of people receiving a main benefit had grown to 362,094, an increase of 16,332 from the previous year, the percentage of the working-age population receiving a main benefit was largely unchanged.

It increased by 0.2 percentage points to 11.3 per cent.

Taupō MP Louise Upston.

Concerningly, the number of hardship grants going to people over 65 has increased by 90.9 per cent in the last five years and 20.4 per cent in the past year.

Those receiving Job Seeker support had also risen and the document said last September 181,509 people were receiving Jobseeker Support, 11,472 more than the year prior.

“The proportion of the working-age population receiving this benefit increased to 5.7 per cent, up 0.3 percentage points from September 2022,” the document said.

It revealed the number of people on the sole parent support benefit had risen by 2.9 per cent, with 2103 more people receiving the support since September 2022.

“At the end of September 2023, 75,000 people were receiving Sole Parent Support.

“The proportion of the working-age population receiving this benefit increased to 2.4 per cent, up 0.1 percentage points from September 2022.”

Similarly, the Supported Living Payment was up around 2.1 per cent.

“At the end of September 2023, 101,364 people were receiving Supported Living Payment,” the briefing said.

The number of Emergency Housing Special Needs Grants during the September quarter last year dropped 5298 or 17.0 per cent from the previous September quarter.

“The value of these grants was $88.2 million, down 3.9 per cent from the September 2022 quarter.”

However, the document said the number of hardship assistance payments was up 8.7 per cent over the same period.

“There were 339,222 Special Needs Grants for food during the September 2023 quarter, up 31,020 or 10.1 per cent from the September 2022 quarter. The value of these grants was $36.6 million, up 16.5 per cent from the September 2022 quarter.”