Heather du Plessis-Allan: Should those on the benefit get the Working for Families tax credit?

If we don’t watch out, we are going to end up in a situation, if we haven’t already, where we make the gap between getting the dole and getting paid for work become so small, that it again ends up being a smart move to just stay at home and collect free money rather than work for a living.

Right now, the Government is considering a change to Working for Families that will only exacerbate this problem.

Working for Families is money that is paid to families who work; the clue is in the name.

But now the Government’s considering also giving the in-work tax credit to families who don’t work, families on the dole.

Mike Hosking: Now is not the time for benefit increases

Quietly unveiled at the end of Jacinda Ardern's post-Cabinet press conference on Monday was confirmation of benefit increases based on wage increases, not the consumer price index, as has traditionally been the case.

It was a change made in the 'Wellbeing Budget' and this ironically is in part why the books aren't what they were, or indeed should be. The books were talked of in the same conference by Finance Minister Grant Robertson, who assured us all that we are busy working on three separate coronavirus plans, and we are in good shape to deal with all three.