Work and Income break down the various types of benefits and additional payments in the following way:
Main benefits – These are JobSeeker Support, Sole Parent Support and the Supported Living Payment (for working-age adults); the Youth Payment and the Young Parent Payment (for young people); and New Zealand Superannuation (for people 65 or older).
Supplementary assistance – The two main forms of ongoing supplementary assistance are the Accommodation Supplement and the Disability Allowance. Other types of ongoing supplementary assistance are for training or course costs and for your children’s education costs. Some one-off supplementary assistance is also available, mainly to help with costs that arise when you begin the transition to work. Many types of supplementary assistance are available for those in paid work as well as those receiving a main benefit.
Hardship assistance – There are three categories of hardship assistance: Special Needs Grants (for example, food grants); Advances of Benefits (or Recoverable Assistance Payments if you’re not on a main benefit); and Temporary Additional Support (or the Special Benefit, if you were getting the Special Benefit before 1 April 2006).
There is also Working for Families, a system of tax credits which is not part of the benefits system itself. You can get these credits if you’re in paid work but on a lower income, and some of the tax credits are also available to people on a benefit (see “The Working for Families tax credit package”).