Latest news with #WINZ
Scoop
14-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Let's Make Death A Local Body Election Issue
In the lead up to the upcoming local body elections, the Funeral Directors Association calls for Councils to be held to account for annual increases in their burial and cremation fees, which are a significant driver of costs for even the most basic funerals and compound the affordability challenges for those who rely on the Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) Funeral Grant. Councils increase these fees each year, typically by an adjustment for CPI. However, the rate increase in these fees is at their discretion and in some regions burial costs have seen double digit percentage increases while cremation costs have also been increased well beyond CPI (with the single biggest increase being 44%). Funeral Directors Association Chief Executive, Gillian Boyes, says burial and cremation costs are one of the biggest elements of a funeral bill so when those jump so significantly funerals suddenly seem a lot more expensive. 'This impacts everyone and especially those who are struggling financially who may be eligible for support through the WINZ Funeral Grant but find that it barely covers these basic Council costs,' says Ms Boyes. The WINZ Funeral Grant of $2,616.12 would not cover Council fees for burials in most regions across New Zealand, where those fees can be as high as $7,000.00 in New Plymouth and the nationwide average is over $4,000.00. While cremation is a cheaper option, significant cost increases for this service in some regions (Hastings 34%, Nelson 22% and Invercargill 15%) to over $1,000.00 mean the WINZ Funeral Grant does not stretch far enough beyond that to cover other essential costs, let alone the personal touches families often wish to include for a meaningful farewell. 'We have challenged Councils that have some of the biggest increases in these costs to explain why, and they have indicated it is because their actual operating costs are going up much more than by CPI, citing the example of gas cost increases for crematoriums of 20%-30%. 'We acknowledge these challenges and understand that big jumps in crematorium fees reflect a reset based on actual operational costs with a view to potential future annual fee increases reverting to CPI adjustments. 'However, we'd argue the same principle should apply for the WINZ Funeral Grant, which is only ever increased annually by CPI but from an unrealistically low base that does not reflect actual costs (such as Council burial and cremation fees). This means the gap between the grant and actual basic funeral costs is widening insurmountably for many. 'In this context, we call on central Government to do a 'reset' increase in the Funeral Grant to match Councils' discretionary 'resets' of their fees. We would also like to see a commitment to increasing the WINZ Funeral Grant to match the average increase in Council fees for burials and cremation, rather than just CPI, to better match actual cost increases going forward,' says Ms Boyes. The Funeral Directors Association has been calling for a substantive increase in the WINZ Funeral Grant for some time. They note another Government-funded funeral grant, the ACC Funeral Grant is currently set at $7,990.30. 'The Minister's response to our calls for an increase in the WINZ Funeral Grant has been that it is being increased in line with inflation. But inflation on not very much in the first place is still not very much. 'The sad reality is that a time when a very low-income family is hurting and grieving and just wants to remember their loved one, they are going to be faced with the added pain of a big bill with fixed basic costs that just keep going up,' says Ms Boyes. 'Rising cemetery and cremation fees are placing an unsustainable financial burden on low-income families at a time of deep grief,' says Ms Boyes. 'The current WINZ Funeral Grant no longer reflects the true cost of even a basic farewell, especially where council fees are significant. We urgently need a review to ensure fair support for grieving families and to prevent funeral providers from carrying the reputational cost of a system that's no longer fit for purpose.'
Scoop
11-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Rise Of The Underemployed: New Zealanders Struggle To Find Full-time Work
, Digital Producer Checkpoint A growing number of people are giving up their dream career, and settling for any job, or jobs, that will put food on the table. In the March quarter, the unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent, and the number of people in full-time jobs fell by 45,000. The only area that saw positive growth was part-time work, with 25,000 more people in those roles than the previous year, a 4 percent rise. But some Kiwis have said for them, fewer hours is a last resort, applying for hundreds of jobs before settling for a part-time role. When she's not busy juggling her two part-time jobs in the entertainment industry, Petra Elise is trawling job listings and writing cover letters. It's been this way for a few years now, after she was made redundant from her full-time role during the pandemic. Five years on she hasn't found a full-time job, now getting by on 24 hours of work a week. "The reason I have these two part-time roles is I had to take what I could get pretty much. I obviously would much prefer one full-time role where I don't have to move my mindset out of one role and into the other role the next day." Even for jobs she's fully qualified for, Elise said it is rare to get a response, let alone an interview. She receives a $50 wage supplement, but even with that entitlement she says it's incredibly hard to get by. "How I survive is extremely careful budgeting and not a lot of, in fact no fun. It's not really a life, it's living hand to mouth." Although it is far from her ideal situation, Elise said managing to get these two jobs was no easy ride. "I was on a WINZ benefit for about year, the amount I was eligible for was $360, so I was living on less than I'm living on now." While she is passionate about the work she does, it is far from enough. "I care deeply about the two part-time jobs I'm doing but there's just not enough money there for me to have as much of an impact, they can't afford to pay me for full-time work." Elise isn't alone in her struggle to secure full-time work. Craig Renney, economist at the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, says the market's so saturated that the number of people settling for any job is also on the up. "What we're seeing is that growth in that part-time work and often that's a measure of stress in the labour market. This is people who might well want to work full-time, can't find full-time work but will happily take any job just to keep an income coming into their household." Rising underemployed Part-time workers who want more work but can't find it are classified as underemployed. In the past two years the number of people in this situation has risen by 26 percent. Now over a fifth of people working part-time are struggling to find more work despite looking. "In the second quarter of 2023, there were around 92,600 people who were basically looking for more work, couldn't find it, basically were underemployed. That number is now 127,000, so there's an extra 30,000 people just inside a couple of years, who are in that want more work can't get it basket." Renney said. Olivia Duncan has been unemployed for just over a month, leaving her last job after the company ran out of money and her pay checks stopped coming in. The job hunt has been no easy ride. After applying for close to 100 full-time roles she has had to expand her search to include part-time work. "I started off looking for just full-time roles, because I've always worked full-time. But then I expanded to also look for part-time roles, just because I was really needing anything and I figured if I took a part-time role, I could always supplement my income with another part-time role or maybe do some kind of side hustle." Duncan said most jobs she has applied for have had hundreds of applicants. While she's now ready to settle for any amount of work, she's keeping an open mind and hopes that even a part-time job will send her career in a new direction. "I do not have a linear career path at all, my career has been all over the place. This has really made me expand my ideas of where I might like my career to go. I'm considering so many different things." A patchwork career however, isn't always taken on as a necessity, with some choosing to ditch the linear career for something different. A new career path Amy Wang is all too familiar with creating her own career path. Suffering from burnout after working in an IT role for seven years, she decided it was time to pave her own way, now following her passions as a musician. "I quit my job in tech about 2.5 years ago, since then I took a little break after because I was quite burnt out, so I just took a break to rest and try and figure out what I wanted to do and just been trying a whole bunch of things to see what works." She now works close to seven different jobs; some days teaching music, others producing and performing it, or even leading a kickboxing class. While it is harder than she expected, she says the benefits are worth it. "It's just more rewarding, I think, even though it's quite scary I find it more exciting, like I'm creating my own opportunities." Jeff de Jong, Manager Skills and Employment Policy at the Ministry of Business and Employment told Checkpoint the unemployment rate is forcast to start to reduce from the end of this year. "Reserve Bank research has shown that during a recession, organisations generally respond to reduced demand for labour by reducing hours first, before resorting to reducing staff numbers. During a recovery, the opposite is true: hours worked by existing employees increase before organisations start bringing on new workers." "We are currently seeing people wanting more hours than their employer is offering." "As the economy strengthens and labour demand recovers, underemployment is expected to decline."
Otago Daily Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
New Zealanders struggling to find full-time work
By Evie Richardson of RNZ A growing number of people are giving up their dream career, and settling for any job, or jobs, that will put food on the table. In the March quarter, the unemployment rate jumped to 5.1%, and the number of people in full-time jobs fell by 45,000. The only area that saw positive growth was part-time work, with 25,000 more people in those roles than the previous year, a 4% rise. But some Kiwis have said for them, fewer hours is a last resort, applying for hundreds of jobs before settling for a part-time role. When she's not busy juggling her two part-time jobs in the entertainment industry, Petra Elise is trawling job listings and writing cover letters. It's been this way for a few years now, after she was made redundant from her full-time role during the pandemic. Five years on she hasn't found a full-time job, now getting by on 24 hours of work a week. "The reason I have these two part-time roles is I had to take what I could get pretty much. I obviously would much prefer one full-time role where I don't have to move my mindset out of one role and into the other role the next day." Even for jobs she's fully qualified for, Elise said it is rare to get a response, let alone an interview. She receives a $50 wage supplement, but even with that entitlement she says it's incredibly hard to get by. "How I survive is extremely careful budgeting and not a lot of, in fact no fun. It's not really a life, it's living hand to mouth." Although it is far from her ideal situation, Elise said managing to get these two jobs was no easy ride. "I was on a WINZ benefit for about year, the amount I was eligible for was $360, so I was living on less than I'm living on now." While she is passionate about the work she does, it is far from enough. "I care deeply about the two part-time jobs I'm doing but there's just not enough money there for me to have as much of an impact, they can't afford to pay me for full-time work." Elise isn't alone in her struggle to secure full-time work. Craig Renney, economist at the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, says the market's so saturated that the number of people settling for any job is also on the up. "What we're seeing is that growth in that part-time work and often that's a measure of stress in the labour market. This is people who might well want to work full-time, can't find full-time work but will happily take any job just to keep an income coming into their household." Rising underemployed Part-time workers who want more work but can't find it are classified as underemployed. In the past two years the number of people in this situation has risen by 26%. Now over a fifth of people working part-time are struggling to find more work despite looking. "In the second quarter of 2023, there were around 92,600 people who were basically looking for more work, couldn't find it, basically were underemployed. That number is now 127,000, so there's an extra 30,000 people just inside a couple of years, who are in that want more work can't get it basket." Renney said. Olivia Duncan has been unemployed for just over a month, leaving her last job after the company ran out of money and her pay checks stopped coming in. The job hunt has been no easy ride. After applying for close to 100 full-time roles she has had to expand her search to include part-time work. "I started off looking for just full-time roles, because I've always worked full-time. But then I expanded to also look for part-time roles, just because I was really needing anything and I figured if I took a part-time role, I could always supplement my income with another part-time role or maybe do some kind of side hustle." Duncan said most jobs she has applied for have had hundreds of applicants. While she's now ready to settle for any amount of work, she's keeping an open mind and hopes that even a part-time job will send her career in a new direction. "I do not have a linear career path at all, my career has been all over the place. This has really made me expand my ideas of where I might like my career to go. I'm considering so many different things." A patchwork career however, isn't always taken on as a necessity, with some choosing to ditch the linear career for something different. A new career path Amy Wang is all too familiar with creating her own career path. Suffering from burnout after working in an IT role for seven years, she decided it was time to pave her own way, now following her passions as a musician. "I quit my job in tech about 2.5 years ago, since then I took a little break after because I was quite burnt out, so I just took a break to rest and try and figure out what I wanted to do and just been trying a whole bunch of things to see what works." She now works close to seven different jobs; some days teaching music, others producing and performing it, or even leading a kickboxing class. While it is harder than she expected, she says the benefits are worth it. "It's just more rewarding, I think, even though it's quite scary I find it more exciting, like I'm creating my own opportunities." Jeff de Jong, Manager Skills and Employment Policy at the Ministry of Business and Employment said the unemployment rate is forceast to start to reduce from the end of this year. "Reserve Bank research has shown that during a recession, organisations generally respond to reduced demand for labour by reducing hours first, before resorting to reducing staff numbers. During a recovery, the opposite is true: hours worked by existing employees increase before organisations start bringing on new workers." "We are currently seeing people wanting more hours than their employer is offering." "As the economy strengthens and labour demand recovers, underemployment is expected to decline."
Otago Daily Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Underemployment rising as full-time opportunities decrease
By Evie Richardson of RNZ A growing number of people are giving up their dream career, and settling for any job, or jobs, that will put food on the table. In the March quarter, the unemployment rate jumped to 5.1%, and the number of people in full-time jobs fell by 45,000. The only area that saw positive growth was part-time work, with 25,000 more people in those roles than the previous year, a 4% rise. But some Kiwis have said for them, fewer hours is a last resort, applying for hundreds of jobs before settling for a part-time role. When she's not busy juggling her two part-time jobs in the entertainment industry, Petra Elise is trawling job listings and writing cover letters. It's been this way for a few years now, after she was made redundant from her full-time role during the pandemic. Five years on she hasn't found a full-time job, now getting by on 24 hours of work a week. "The reason I have these two part-time roles is I had to take what I could get pretty much. I obviously would much prefer one full-time role where I don't have to move my mindset out of one role and into the other role the next day." Even for jobs she's fully qualified for, Elise said it is rare to get a response, let alone an interview. She receives a $50 wage supplement, but even with that entitlement she says it's incredibly hard to get by. "How I survive is extremely careful budgeting and not a lot of, in fact no fun. It's not really a life, it's living hand to mouth." Although it is far from her ideal situation, Elise said managing to get these two jobs was no easy ride. "I was on a WINZ benefit for about year, the amount I was eligible for was $360, so I was living on less than I'm living on now." While she is passionate about the work she does, it is far from enough. "I care deeply about the two part-time jobs I'm doing but there's just not enough money there for me to have as much of an impact, they can't afford to pay me for full-time work." Elise isn't alone in her struggle to secure full-time work. Craig Renney, economist at the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, says the market's so saturated that the number of people settling for any job is also on the up. "What we're seeing is that growth in that part-time work and often that's a measure of stress in the labour market. This is people who might well want to work full-time, can't find full-time work but will happily take any job just to keep an income coming into their household." Rising underemployed Part-time workers who want more work but can't find it are classified as underemployed. In the past two years the number of people in this situation has risen by 26%. Now over a fifth of people working part-time are struggling to find more work despite looking. "In the second quarter of 2023, there were around 92,600 people who were basically looking for more work, couldn't find it, basically were underemployed. That number is now 127,000, so there's an extra 30,000 people just inside a couple of years, who are in that want more work can't get it basket." Renney said. Olivia Duncan has been unemployed for just over a month, leaving her last job after the company ran out of money and her pay checks stopped coming in. The job hunt has been no easy ride. After applying for close to 100 full-time roles she has had to expand her search to include part-time work. "I started off looking for just full-time roles, because I've always worked full-time. But then I expanded to also look for part-time roles, just because I was really needing anything and I figured if I took a part-time role, I could always supplement my income with another part-time role or maybe do some kind of side hustle." Duncan said most jobs she has applied for have had hundreds of applicants. While she's now ready to settle for any amount of work, she's keeping an open mind and hopes that even a part-time job will send her career in a new direction. "I do not have a linear career path at all, my career has been all over the place. This has really made me expand my ideas of where I might like my career to go. I'm considering so many different things." A patchwork career however, isn't always taken on as a necessity, with some choosing to ditch the linear career for something different. A new career path Amy Wang is all too familiar with creating her own career path. Suffering from burnout after working in an IT role for seven years, she decided it was time to pave her own way, now following her passions as a musician. "I quit my job in tech about 2.5 years ago, since then I took a little break after because I was quite burnt out, so I just took a break to rest and try and figure out what I wanted to do and just been trying a whole bunch of things to see what works." She now works close to seven different jobs; some days teaching music, others producing and performing it, or even leading a kickboxing class. While it is harder than she expected, she says the benefits are worth it. "It's just more rewarding, I think, even though it's quite scary I find it more exciting, like I'm creating my own opportunities." Jeff de Jong, Manager Skills and Employment Policy at the Ministry of Business and Employment said the unemployment rate is forceast to start to reduce from the end of this year. "Reserve Bank research has shown that during a recession, organisations generally respond to reduced demand for labour by reducing hours first, before resorting to reducing staff numbers. During a recovery, the opposite is true: hours worked by existing employees increase before organisations start bringing on new workers." "We are currently seeing people wanting more hours than their employer is offering." "As the economy strengthens and labour demand recovers, underemployment is expected to decline."
RNZ News
24-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Injured homeless woman sleeps in her car on hospital grounds in Rotorua
Rotorua Hospital. Photo: Felix Desmarais/LDR A homeless woman in Rotorua was forced to sleep in her car on hospital grounds after being discharged with injuries which made it impossible for her to drive. Nicola was attacked on Friday evening, 13 June. In severe pain and realising something was wrong with her, she drove with difficulty to Rotorua hospital the next morning, leaving her car in a disabled car space in the hospital parking. She said she received excellent care in the hospital where her broken ankle was put in a cast. "When I went through the ED they were amazing, and Rotorua hospital staff are amazing, so I had a very good experience," she said. The problem came on Monday afternoon, 16 June when it was suddenly announced she was being discharged. "I said 'look, I can't go. If I go now, I'm going to go to WINZ and they aren't going to be able to help me' because it's 4pm on a Monday afternoon and they close at 5pm'." After speaking to several people, she was given permission to stay one more night and go to Work and Income's Rotorua office in the morning. On Tuesday, having been given the resources to take a taxi to Work and Income, Nicola visited community housing hub Te Pokapū. She was left with the impression that she had not lived in Rotorua for long enough to receive emergency housing help. Ministry of Social Development's (MSD) Regional Commissioner Jacob Davies said eligibility for an emergency housing grant did not specify that a person must have lived in a given area for two years. "If someone asks for housing assistance, we discuss their situation with them and how we may be able to help," he said. However, MSD does consider whether someone seeking emergency housing had unreasonably contributed to their immediate emergency housing need. Davies said Nicola left an existing tenancy in Putāruru and moved to Rotorua, first visiting MSD on 5 June to ask for emergency housing. "She was still receiving financial assistance from Work and Income to pay for her tenancy in Putāruru, but she told us she had left there and moved to Rotorua about three weeks earlier, to house sit a property. However, that arrangement did not eventuate. "At Te Pokapū, [Nicola] was informed she wouldn't be eligible for emergency housing because she had left Putāruru and her tenancy there. "We acknowledge that a more detailed conversation with Nicola, about her options for MSD housing support, may have ensured greater clarity about what was available to her and why," he said. Nicola is 51-years-old and said for many years her life had been stable and she was employed. This changed in the last few years after moving towns to live with a partner in what became an abusive relationship. After leaving the relationship, she had several temporary living arrangements but was unable to keep working and for the last month has been living in her car. RNZ has chosen not to use her last name to protect her from her previous abusive partner. After leaving hospital and again being turned down for emergency housing, Nicola found a friend who was able to give her a lift back to the hospital where she said she stayed in her parked car until Thursday, 19 June. Health New Zealand (HNZ) Lakes District Acting Group Director of Operations Kathy Rex said Health New Zealand (HNZ) is responsible for the health-related needs of patients. "We encourage anyone who needs assistance with housing or living support to seek help from relevant agencies," she said. If required, HNZ will help connect patients and whānau with community agencies and appropriate support. Nicola said she received at least two warnings that she was not allowed to be in her car at the hospital and would be towed or the police called. She continued to make it clear that due to her injuries she was unable to physically and legally drive the car. "I'm not trying to stay or to be disruptive - I don't want to be here in the carpark at the hospital, I don't want to be taking up a space that a disabled person could be in, but I also thought, I am actually disabled, I have a cast on my leg, and I can't walk properly." Nicola said that on the 19 June she was visited again, this time by the hospital facilities manager and security. After again making it clear she could not drive, it was agreed a security guard could move the car for her to a different carpark nearby. Rex said owners of vehicles parked in a disability carpark at Rotorua Hospital without a disability permit are asked to move to one of the visitor car parks provided. "Our staff are available to help with this if someone is unable to move their vehicle on their own," she said. On Wednesday, 18 June, unsure what to do, Nicola begun calling people in Parliament. The first to answer her call and offer help was the office of Labour spokesperson for Mental Health, MP Ingrid Leary. Leary said her office is trying to help Nicola and had been in communications with the hospital who she felt had let Nicola down. She said it was a heartless situation, brought about by stressed out services due to underfunding and cuts. "My concern is that when a hospital discharges someone they need to ensure they are going somewhere safe and that they will be safe and well for the immediate future and that hasn't happened in this case," Leary said. She said government appropriation for emergency hospital had reduced by $225 million this year. "The result is what we see in this case - someone who clearly needs emergency accommodation who has been kicked to the curb." MSD said on 19 June, Nicola was approved for an Accommodation Costs in Advance Grant to help her pay for a backpackers, which was arranged by a social worker for her. Davies said Nicola told them that she did not want to accept this support. Nicola said there is no way she could pay that grant back, and that the backpackers did not have space for her to park her car. Leary also said backpackers are not always the safest place to accommodate vulnerable women. Instead, Nicola organised to stay in a motel which cost the same amount per night as the backpackers and allowed her to park her car. It was still unclear how this is going to be paid for. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
