Working for Families package fully delivered

The full implementation of the Working for Families package on Sunday will be an important milestone in the Labour-led government's work for New Zealand families, Social Development and Employment Minister David Benson-Pope said today.

Around three out of every four families will qualify for an extra $10 per child, per week in Working for Families tax credits from 1 April in the final stage of the package's implementation which began in 2005.

A regular adjustment is also being introduced to ensure family tax credit rates and abatement thresholds keep up with inflation.

"All New Zealand families deserve a decent standard of living," David Benson-Pope said. “Working for Families is increasing the incomes of hundreds of thousands of New Zealand’s working and beneficiary families, and lifting tens of thousands of children out of poverty.

“Nearly all families earning under $70,000, many families earning up to $100,000 and some larger families earning more now qualify for Working for Families. By 2008, some 360,000 families will be receiving tax credits through Working for Families.

David Benson-Pope said it was important to remember that this final stage of the Working for Families package – that will lift many thousands of children out of income poverty – was the part of the Working for Families package that National Leader John Key pledged to scrap at the last election.

"We are putting more money in the pockets of New Zealand families with children and making work pay for parents who move off benefit and into work. While others pay lip service to issues like poverty, it's Labour in government that continues to deliver real gains to the families that need it most."

1 April will also see a range of other policies for families come into force, including the delivery of a minimum four weeks annual leave entitlement, a 9.8 per cent boost to the minimum wage, and a substantial increase in the rate of New Zealand Superannuation.