Families receive social policy payments that we deliver along with Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Hīkina Whakatutuki, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Many customers are facing hardship, have complex circumstances or can be unsure about the payments they’re entitled to.
Families and whānau want us to:
- give them certainty about the payments they receive from week to week
- take the time to understand their situations and find the best options for receiving entitlements or paying child support.
$2.97 billion
- in net entitlements was paid by us and MSD to support working families this year.
158,000 children
- are in the Child Support Scheme.
$481 million
- in child support was collected from 135,000 parents in 2022–23 and $294 million was distributed to carers.
- The government has retained the balance of support collected to help offset the costs of benefits paid. This ended in June 2023. This page has more details Extra cash in hand for sole parents
$605.6 million
- in paid parental leave payments went to around 57,000 new parents.
How do we ensure our customers are at the centre of what we do and deliver? In October 2021, we launched our first in-house customer research panel, IR Connection. Through IR Connection, we’re engaging with customers to learn about their experiences, motivations and needs. They’re helping us to improve our products and services.
IR Connection is now an 18,000 strong community, making it one of the largest public sector customer research panels in Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s a diverse and inclusive space, made up of individual customers, customers with families and business customers—from sole-traders to large corporations.
Feedback from members has already helped make our individual income tax assessment letters easier to understand and assisted our policy team to learn more about New Zealanders’ awareness and understanding of Working for Families Tax Credits.
We’ll continue to work in partnership with customers to ensure that their voices are heard. We are grateful to IR Connection members for their time and valuable contributions.