Beneficiary numbers have soared to a 12-year high, under a government that promised a reduction.
They were the highest both by volume and percentage of the working-age population since at least the 2013 welfare reforms.
Social development minister Louise Upston said in 2024 - less than three months after taking office - that the government was taking action to "curb the surge in welfare dependency" that ocurred under the former Labour government.
But the most recent Ministry of Social Development data revealed that was yet to take hold.
As of December last year, 427,236 people - about the population of Christchurch - were receiving a main benefit.
That was 13.2 percent of the working-age population, the highest recorded since at least 2013, when reforms replaced multiple benefits with three main benefits: Jobseeker, Sole Parent Support and Supported Living Payment.
More than half of beneficiaries - 223,512 people, or 6.9 percent of the working age population - were on the Jobseeker benefit. That was also a record.
Soon after taking power the government set a target of 50,000 fewer people on the Jobseeker benefit by 2030.
So far, there had been an 18 percent jump: from 190,000 in December 2023 to 223,500 in December last year.
The 18 to 24-year-old age group on the Jobseeker benefit had grown the most in that period, rising 32 percent.
Minister blames former Labour government
Upston said the numbers were a result of the coalition inheriting "difficult economic conditions and a tough labour market" from the former Labour government.
"Unemployment has been rising since 2021 and is always one of the last things to improve after a recession," she said.
It's worth clicking through to the graph in the article, it's difficult to screen shot as it's interactive and you have to hover over it to see numbers. But it shows unemployment was lowest in 2022, counteracting the minister's claims it had been rising since 2021.
I like how it's election year and the government is still blaming the previous government for not being able to meet their election promises. Since at the last election all the actions of Labour had already happened, surely they were taken into account in their election promises. Or maybe National don't understand the economy?