Widow's Benefit

Overview

A Widow's Benefit is available to a woman who has been widowed and:

• is caring for one or more dependent children
• was married, and subsequently cared for dependent children for 15 years or more
• had one or more dependent children, and was married for a total of 15 years or more
• was married for five years or more, and became a widow after reaching 50 years of age, or
• is aged at least 50 years, was married for at least 10 years after marrying for the first time at least 15 years ago, and became a widow after reaching 40 years of age.

Between 1 February 1999 and 10 March 2003, clients receiving a Widow's Benefit were subject to:

• a full-time work test if they had no dependent children or if their youngest dependent child was aged 14 years or over
• a part-time work test if their youngest dependent child was aged 6-13 years
• a requirement to attend annual planning interviews with a Work and Income case manager if their youngest dependent child was aged under six years (the aim of this interview was to plan how the client would enter paid work once her youngest dependent child was aged six years).

Since the removal of work-test requirements on 10 March 2003, Widow's Benefit recipients have been obligated to meet the requirements of the Personal Development and Employment Plan process if required to do so by their case manager. This process involves developing and implementing a plan aimed at assisting clients in moving toward employment, and therefore toward economic and social participation in society.

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Trends in the number of clients receiving a Widow's Benefit

Numbers of clients receiving Widow's Benefits have decreased since 2004 (see table 3.29). This reflects the movement of Widow's Benefit recipients onto New Zealand Superannuation, which is not balanced by the smaller numbers of women being granted the benefit. Since 2004, around 66% of the working age clients receiving these benefits had done so for over two years, although the proportion doing so for over four years decreased slightly over this period (from 48% to 44%).

Table 3.29 Trends in the length of current spells receiving a Widow's Benefit

Length of current spell to the end of June	2004 Number	2005 Number	2006 Number	2007 Number	2008 Number
	Working age clients receiving a Widow's Benefit1
Under 6 months	765	765	704	610	684
6 months-2 years	1,937	1,763	1,677	1,497	1,346
2-4 years	1,579	1,538	1,440	1,338	1,214
Over 4 years	3,980	3,571	3,180	2,842	2,559
Total working age clients	8,261	7,637	7,001	6,287	5,803
	Other clients receiving a Widow's Benefit1
Total other clients	152	158	180	184	180
	Total clients receiving a Widow's Benefit1
Total	8,413	7,795	7,181	6,471	5,983

Note

1. Numbers of clients recorded in SWIFTT as receiving a Widow's Benefit at the end of June.

Table 8.1 shows trends since 1940 in the number of clients receiving a Widow's Benefit.

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Trends in the proportion of working age women receiving a Widow's Benefit

Each year since 2004, around 0.5% of all working age women in the New Zealand population have been receiving a Widow's Benefit at the end of June, with women aged 50-64 years significantly more likely than younger women to receive these benefits over this period (see figure 3.10). The preponderance of older women among recipients of Widow's Benefits largely reflects the eligibility criteria for these benefits.

figure 3.10 Trends in the proportion of working age women receiving a Widow's Benefit, by age

Note

1. Proportion shows:
   1. number of clients in age group recorded in SWIFTT as receiving a Widow's Benefit at the end of June, divided by
   2. Statistics New Zealand final estimate of the resident population of women in age group at the end of June.

See table A3.9 for a summary of the SWIFTT data underlying figure 3.10

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Trends in Widow's Benefits granted

The number of Widow's Benefits granted increased slightly in the last year after decreasing for the previous three years (see table 3.30). Over this period, between 61% and 64% of the working age clients granted these benefits had not received a main benefit in the previous four years, while around 16% had received a main benefit in the last 12 months.

Table 3.30 Trends in the length of periods since clients granted a Widow's Benefit last received any main benefit

Period since client last received any main benefit	2003/2004 Number	2004/2005 Number	2005/2006 Number	2006/2007 Number	2007/2008 Number
	Widow's Benefits granted to working age clients1
None (clients transferring between benefits or districts)2	204	186	151	152	176
Under 6 months	206	208	206	182	179
6-12 months	102	127	103	80	104
12-18 months	49	54	44	52	42
18 months-2 years	44	33	39	37	36
2-4 years	131	104	105	101	104
Had not received a main benefit in previous four years	1,245	1241	1132	989	982
Total granted to working age clients	1,981	1,953	1,780	1,593	1,623
	Widow's Benefits granted to other clients1
Total granted to other clients	36	40	43	39	53
	Total Widow's Benefits granted1
Total	2,017	1,993	1,823	1,632	1,676

Notes

1. Numbers of successful applications for Widow's Benefits recorded in SWIFTT during years ended June.
2. Includes only a minority of transfers of benefits between districts. Most such transfers are accomplished without cancelling and re-granting benefits.

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Trends in cancellations of Widow's Benefits

The number of Widow's Benefits cancelled has decreased slightly over the last three years (see table 3.31). Since 2004/2005, around 26% of the working age clients cancelling these benefits had entered paid work, while the proportion transferring to another benefit, pension or district decreased from 50% to 45%.

Table 3.31 Trends in reasons for clients cancelling Widow's Benefits

Reason for cancellation	2003/2004 Number	2004/2005 Number	2005/2006 Number	2006/2007 Number	2007/2008 Number
	Widow's Benefits cancelled by working age clients1
Obtained paid work2	512	543	526	516	490
Transferred to another benefit, pension or district3,4	952	1,084	996	906	829
Other2	674	562	572	574	513
Total cancelled by working age clients	2,138	2,189	2,094	1,996	1,832
	Widow's Benefits cancelled by other clients1
Total cancelled by other clients	169	410	357	353	304
	Total Widow's Benefits cancelled1
Total	2,307	2,599	2,451	2,349	2,136

Notes

1. Numbers of cancellations of Widow's Benefits recorded in SWIFTT during years ended June.
2. Due to recoding of reasons for cancelling main benefits, these figures may not reconcile with those published in previous years.
3. "Transferred to another benefit [or] pension" includes some transfers from main benefits to New Zealand Superannuation, including those previously shown as "Qualified for New Zealand Superannuation".
4. "Transferred to another … district" represents cancellations undertaken so a client's benefit can be administered from a different Work and Income service centre. These changes may reflect a change of address by the client or an administrative decision by Work and Income. A majority of transfers of benefits between districts are completed without cancelling the client's benefit, and therefore are not included above.

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Expenditure on Widow's Benefits

Fluctuations since 1995/1996 in the level of expenditure on Widow's Benefits (see table 3.32) reflect a combination of changes in the number of clients receiving these benefits and changes in the levels of assistance.

Table 3.32 Trends in annual expenditure on Widow's Benefits

Year ended June	Expenditure on Widow's Benefits1,2,3 ($m)
1995/1996	86
1996/1997	92
1997/1998	95
1998/1999	95
1999/2000	93
2000/2001	91
2001/2002	91
2002/2003	92
2003/2004	93
2004/2005	90
2005/2006	85
2006/2007	81
2007/2008	75

Notes

1. Expenditure on Widow's Benefits in years ended June, including expenditure on supplementary benefits provided to recipients of a Widow's Benefit.
2. Expenditure shown is net of taxation, adjusted to payment periods based on a standard 30-day month, and smoothed using a three-month moving average.
3. Expenditure data in this table differs from, and should not be cited as, MSD's official measure of expenditure on financial assistance provided to clients.

Monthly expenditure on Widow's Benefits shows small seasonal peaks in the latter part of each fiscal year (see figure 3.11). This peak results from the Training Incentive Allowance and benefit advances that are made at the start of the school/academic year to Widow's Benefit recipients who have dependent children at school or who are themselves undertaking approved training or study.

figure 3.11 Trends in monthly expenditure on Widow's Benefits

Notes

1. Monthly expenditure on Widow's Benefits, including expenditure on supplementary benefits paid to clients receiving a Widow's Benefit.
2. Expenditure shown is net of taxation, adjusted to payment periods based on a standard 30-day month and smoothed using a three-month moving average.
3. Expenditure data in this graph differs from, and should not be cited as, MSD's official measure of expenditure on financial assistance provided to clients.

Table 8.2 shows trends since 1940 in expenditure on Widow's Benefits, including expenditure on supplementary benefits paid to people receiving a Widow's Benefit.¹

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¹In table 8.2, expenditure on Widow's Benefits from 1996 reflects deductions for debts established and for clients receiving an overseas pension as well as these benefits. These deductions are not reflected in the data in figure 3.11 and table 3.32.

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