Who received the COVID-19 Income Relief Payment? - May 2022

The COVID-19 Income Relief Payment was a 12-week time-limited payment introduced to provide temporary income relief for people who lost their job or small business because of the impacts of COVID-19. The payment was one of a range of protection measures established by the Government to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on people and businesses. The payment was available between 8 June 2020 and 4 February 2021.

This report provides a description of the payment and those who accessed it. It describes key characteristics of recipients, including their connection to the labour market and benefit system. The differences between the COVID-19 Income Relief Payment and Jobseeker Support – Work Ready recipients are also considered.

Tables in the report provide a comparison between the COVID-19 Income Relief Payment from its introduction on 8 June 2020 and Jobseeker Support – Work Ready receipt in 2019 and 2020. The data also covers those who entered Jobseeker Support – Work Ready during the period from 8 June to 14 November in both 2019 and 2020 (the period that applications were open for the COVID-19 Income Relief Payment).

Analysis is descriptive only and this report is not an evaluation. Information presented in the report draws on Integrated Data Infrastructure data to 31 December 2020 (except for income data which is up to 31 May 2021). The figures in this report therefore differ from official MSD reporting.

Key insights

• Most recipients returned to some work in similar types of industries with almost three quarters of COVID-19 Income Relief Payment recipients returning to some employment between leaving CIRP and 31 May 2021.
• Individual based entitlement, and higher thresholds for individual and partner income, enabled people who would not usually qualify for or access a main benefit to get financial support:
  • a higher proportion of COVID-19 Income Relief Payment recipients had a partner (just over a third compared to approximately 13 percent of Jobseeker Support – Work Ready) recipients with around three quarters of the COVID-19 Income Relief Payment partners appearing to be working
  • CIRP recipients had considerably higher incomes before entry with just over half earning over $40,000 in the previous 12 months compared to 12 percent of Jobseeker Support – Work Ready recipients in 2019.
• There were key differences in age, ethnicity, and education demographics of CIRP recipients and JS-WR:
  • more than half (56 percent) of COVID-19 Income Relief Payment recipients were aged over 35 compared to 36 percent of Jobseeker Support – Work Ready recipients
  • there was a lower proportion of Māori among COVID-19 Income Relief Payment recipients and considerably higher proportions of Asian and New Zealand European recipients
  • COVID-19 Income Relief Payment recipients generally had higher levels of education.
• Overall, the data indicates that the COVID-19 Income Relief Payment met its policy intent in terms of providing temporary financial support for people to soften the shock of sudden unemployment because of the impacts of COVID-19, including a cohort of people who would not have been eligible for a main benefit.