Decades-old welfare rules need fix - Children's Commissioner

The Children's Commissioner wants the government to move quickly to ease abatement and eligibility thresholds in the welfare system that haven't changed for decades. The amount someone on the jobseeker benefit can earn before they are docked money hasn't changed since 1996, while the cash asset levels to claim the accommodation supplement haven't shifted since 1988. Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft told RNZ social issues reporter Sarah Robson it's time beneficiaries were allowed to earn more.