ACT's Social Welfare Policy
ACT supports stronger work obligations, reducing benefit rates over time to incentivise work, time-limiting benefits for able-bodied recipients, community and charity-based welfare over state welfare, and maintaining NZ Superannuation while considering future sustainability.
In simple terms
Require beneficiaries to work or train, reduce welfare dependency over time, let charities and communities provide welfare, and maintain superannuation but plan for future costs.
Impact to New Zealanders
Charities and community groups receive more welfare cases but less predictable government funding, forcing them to prioritize urgent needs over preventative services.
Regional areas with fewer employers and charities see higher homelessness and child poverty, while urban centres fare better, widening the geographic inequality gap.
Lower-skilled workers flood the job market, suppressing wages for tradespeople and labourers, while employers benefit from reduced labour costs and weaker worker bargaining power.
Green Party's Social Welfare Policy
The Green Party supports a universal basic income as a replacement for the current welfare system, ensuring no one lives in poverty, a disability support system based on human rights, removing sanctions from the welfare system, and significantly increased benefit rates.
In simple terms
Give everyone a basic income so no one is left in poverty, remove all punishment from the welfare system, and significantly improve support for disabled people.
Impact to New Zealanders
Government needs higher taxes or spending cuts elsewhere; working families pay more while receiving smaller UBI than non-workers.
Landlords gradually raise rents knowing tenants have guaranteed income; poorest renters gain little as housing costs eat UBI gains.
Labour market shifts toward high-skill jobs as low-wage work becomes unattractive; migrants fill service gaps, reshaping New Zealand's workforce composition.
Labour's Social Welfare Policy
Labour made the most significant benefit increases in decades, removed the youth payment and young parent payment abatements, abolished the winter energy payment means test, increased the accommodation supplement, and created the Disability Action Plan. They reformed the welfare system to be more supportive.
In simple terms
Significantly increase benefit rates, make the winter energy payment available to more people, increase housing support for those on low incomes, and better support disabled people.
Impact to New Zealanders
Government spending increases; taxes rise or other services (roads, schools) receive less funding to pay for it.
Landlords and retailers raise prices knowing beneficiaries have more money, partly offsetting real improvement for low-income earners.
Fewer people transition off welfare into work if higher benefits reduce financial pressure to seek employment or upskill.
National's Social Welfare Policy
National has introduced stronger work obligations for beneficiaries, tightened eligibility for Jobseeker support, maintained NZ Superannuation at age 65, and linked benefit increases to inflation rather than wage growth. They focus on reducing welfare dependency and moving people into employment.
In simple terms
Require able-bodied beneficiaries to look for work, keep the retirement age at 65, and focus welfare on helping people become self-sufficient.
Impact to New Zealanders
Job-seeking requirements reduce benefit rolls, but employers face wage pressure as desperate workers accept lower pay, undercutting wages for all workers.
People cycling off benefits faster means fewer upskilling opportunities; those without qualifications stay trapped in low-wage work, reducing long-term tax revenue.
Retirement at 65 with decades of low-wage work means smaller superannuation payouts, eventually forcing more retirees back onto government support than before.
NZ First's Social Welfare Policy
NZ First's priority is superannuation — they strongly oppose any increase in the retirement age and have secured commitments to maintain NZ Super at 65 in coalition agreements. They also support war veterans' entitlements, the SuperGold Card, and oppose welfare for non-citizens.
In simple terms
Protect the retirement age at 65 and defend NZ Superannuation, support veterans properly, and ensure benefits go to citizens who have contributed to New Zealand.
Impact to New Zealanders
Government spending on superannuation remains locked in, forcing cuts to other areas like healthcare or education to balance the budget.
Stricter benefit eligibility based on 'contribution' history disadvantages migrants and Māori with interrupted work records, widening existing inequality gaps.
Workforce participation drops as older workers stay longer, reducing job availability for young people and slowing wage growth economy-wide.
Te Pāti Māori's Social Welfare Policy
Te Pāti Māori supports a universal basic income of $385 per week, removal of all benefit sanctions, addressing the over-representation of Māori in poverty and welfare dependency, a disability support system based on mana (dignity), and free healthcare and childcare to reduce cost pressures.
In simple terms
Give everyone $385 a week as a basic income, remove all penalties from the welfare system, fix Māori poverty, support disabled people with dignity, and provide free childcare and healthcare.
Impact to New Zealanders
Landlords raise rents knowing tenants have guaranteed $385/week, shifting benefit spending into property owners' pockets rather than local economies.
Removing work penalties reduces labour supply in low-wage sectors (agriculture, hospitality, care), forcing employers to either automate or raise wages significantly.
Universal basic income without productivity growth requires sustained tax increases on middle-income earners, potentially shrinking the working-age tax base over decades.
TOP's Citizen's Income Policy
TOP's flagship policy is a universal Citizen's Income (CI) of $370 per week paid to every adult New Zealander, replacing most current benefits and simplifying the welfare system. Superannuitants would receive a top-up so they are no better or worse off. Parents would receive an additional $185/week per child. The CI removes the poverty trap of losing benefits when entering work and eliminates intrusive means-testing.
In simple terms
Every adult gets $370 a week unconditionally — no means-testing, no work requirements. It replaces most benefits and removes the poverty trap where taking a job costs you your welfare payments.
Impact to New Zealanders
Landlords raise rents knowing tenants have guaranteed income; housing costs may absorb much of the $370 weekly gain.
Employers reduce wages for entry-level jobs, knowing workers have baseline income; low-skilled workers gain security but lose negotiating power.
Funding pressures force cuts to targeted services (disability support, mental health) that serve people with greater needs beyond the universal amount.