benefits, and varied over time and between subgroups. Growth in inflows has been an important driver of growth for both benefits. While much of the growth in inflows was inevitable given changes in the size and structure of the population and the increase in the age of eligibility for NZS, more than half cannot be explained by these factors and reflects an increase in the proportion of the population aged 15 -- 59 coming on to the benefits. For SB, most of this growth was due to an increase in entries from outside the benefit system (but when we examine the recent growth between 1999 and 2002, increased transfers from within the benefit system account for 28% of the increase). For IB, entries from outside the benefit system and transfers from inside the benefit system both contributed to the growth. Growth in transfers accounted for 60% of the 1993 -- 2002 increase in the proportion of the population aged 15 -- 59 coming on to that benefit. The long stays of IB entrants converted sustained growth in inflows into rapid growth in numbers in receipt. Even though the duration of stays on IB did not increase between the beginning and the end of the decade, duration played a key role in generating the growth that occurred. Why did SB and IB inflows grow in the context of a general improvement in economic conditions? Some of the possible explanations relate to changes in policy and administration, which appear to have shifted