I’ve been contacted by a Masters student who is researching the wellbeing of beneficiaries who have come off the benefit, temporarily or permanently, since the reforms in 2013. 

I can’t help her, but it seems like a great project. She emailed me the following:

“While there were 12,700 fewer people on the benefit at the end of 2014 than the year before, there is no information on the outcomes of these people. I am aiming to understand whether these people have found employment, the quality of this employment, and their overall wellbeing on the benefit, and off the benefit.

With this information I hope to work toward policy changes to ensure the New Zealand welfare system works best for those it is supposed to assist. In order to be able to do this I need to gather as many research participants as possible.

I am looking for anyone who has been on the benefit at some point, and has come off this benefit either temporarily or permanently since July 2013. All they need to do is fill out a brief online survey or a paper survey.  (If you know of people who do not have access to the internet but would be interested in completing this survey, I can happily provide you with paper versions of the survey which come with a pre-paid envelope).”

If you’re interested in being part of the research, have a look at the survey. Entries go in the draw for a $50 grocery voucher.