Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni wants to look at ways the welfare system can encourage volunteering to prepare people for work. But officials have warned against making it compulsory.
Your playlist will load after this ad 1 NEWS has obtained figures showing thousands more people are borrowing money from the Ministry of Social Development to get by and it s now owed close to $2 billion. Source: 1 NEWS
Figures released to 1 NEWS under the Official Information Act show almost 560,000 people now owe $1.9 billion to the Ministry of Social Development.
It’s 50,000 more people than in 2018, when $1.5 billion worth of interest-free loans were handed out for things like school uniforms, the dentist, electricity, and car repairs.
Each person owes almost $500 more than three years ago, with the average amount being $3420.
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni told 1 NEWS that it’s much better than families going to get high interest loans “to cover some of these basics”.