> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://goodoil.news/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Long Term Benefit Numbers Will Keep Climbing under Labour
- URL: https://goodoil.news/long-term-benefit-numbers-will-keep-climbing-under-labour/
- Published: 2021-05-27T01:53:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-06-18T10:17:47.000Z
- Author: Karen Chhour
- Tags: Economy, NZ, NZ Politics, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 01:54

**Karen Chhour**  
ACT’s Social Development spokesperson

---

As long as the Government has its hands over its ears screaming “la la la” about benefit numbers, they will keep rising.

There are 365,937 working-age people receiving a main benefit as at the end of March 2021\. That’s an 18 per cent increase on the year before.

**Carmel Sepuloni** told *Newstalk ZB* this morning “the numbers speak for themselves.” They sure do.

> It’s no coincidence that when you remove sanctions and obligations and raise the amount people receive that numbers increase.

In the Budget last week the Government threw a whopping $3.8 billion extra at benefits with a permanent increase to the main benefit.

It is harmful and doing more damage than good.

![boy and girl playing on three tree log](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/9vpi3gq1iuo.jpg)

Photo by Annie Spratt. The BFD

ACT has positive plans to use [welfare as a hand up](https://www.act.org.nz/a%5Fhand%5Fup?e=14d0a6d75eb4a4d418f1c014d566e907&utm%5Fsource=actnz&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=long%5Fterm%5Fbenefit%5Fnumb&n=2). The Government has an opportunity to make people’s lives better but it seems more interested in keeping families in a cycle of dependency.

**Please share so others can discover *The BFD.***