More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston said will help support them through cost-of-living challenges.

“I am pleased to confirm that from 1 April, most MSD payment rates will increase through the Annual General Adjustment (AGA),” Upston said.

“Overall this year’s AGA means around 1.5 million New Zealanders will get an increase to reflect the cost-of-living, ranging from just over 2 per cent to around 3 per cent."

Upston said MSD has already begun communicating about specific increases, and from next Tuesday, that means pensioners, parents, students, and people on main benefits will all get a little extra, helping hundreds of thousands of Kiwis:

·       933,200 superannuitants and 4,900 veterans will get a boost to New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension

·       409,300 main beneficiaries will get a higher payment

·       47,400 students will see an increase in their allowance

·       70,000 non-beneficiaries getting supplementary assistance are expected to be better off.

“Since 2024, benefit rates have kept pace with the Consumers Price Index (a measure for the cost of living). For the year ending December 2024, the Consumers Price Index was 2.22 per cent," Upston said.

“Pensioners will notice an extra boost to their New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran’s Pension this year, with their total increase around 3 per cent. This is because of the relationship to the net average wage, which forms part of the rate calculation."

“We know the cost-of-living crisis the previous government left us with has been particularly difficult for beneficiaries, and the coming uplift will help many with household budgeting."

Upston said this is in addition to other initiatives to support Kiwis over the past 16 months.

"As at March 19, we have also supported just over 51,000 households with the cost of early childhood education, through FamilyBoost. This has put $31.8m into the pockets of low and middle income families.

“Indexing main benefits to inflation has been used responsibly in 32 of the past 36 years, by governments across the political divide.

“It is something our Government supports as a sensible way to maintain the income support system,” Upston said.