Beneficiary David Ritchie, of Pine Hill, said he was glad he had a mortgaged home to live in with his wife Nirmala and their four children.
He had received an unemployment benefit since 2003 and wanted work.
''I'm in my 50s and there's nothing really out there ... I would like to get out there. If there was a job, I'd take it.''
He worked at Giltech Precision Castings for 14 years until he developed lead poisoning, he said.
He stayed off a sickness benefit to remain employable, he said.
''If you are on a sickness benefit, employers won't take you [on].''
Despite the lack of jobs the family were doing all right, he said.
Buying their home for $80,000 in 1999 was a ''blessing'' as rental prices had soared, he said.
The Budget announcement of more subsidised home insulation for low-income households was a good idea, he said.
The Ritchies had roof and underfloor insulation installed three years ago and the warmer home had kept the family healthier, he said.
And the Budget propo-sal to support low or no-interest loans for low-income borrowers was another good idea, he said.
A loan would help them buy basic family needs ''like clothes, shoes, food and the children's education'', Mr Ritchie saidThe announcement of the whiteware procurement programme was another good idea because in the past the family had struggled to convince their Work and Income adviser to loan them money to buy a new stove.
''You've got to think of the safety of the home and if you get a second-hand stove, how long is it going to last?''And the extra funding for budgeting services would help beneficiaries on a ''tight'' budget, he said.
The family received between $784 and $827 in benefits a week, he said.
''It helped us to manage our money. We are pretty thrifty now.''
Wife Nirmala Ritchie said she would look for a part-time job when their Down syndrome son, Edward, went to school later this year.
Beneficiary Advocacy Federation of New Zealand spokeswoman Kay Brereton said the organisation supported the whiteware programme.
But the extra 354 Work and Income staff, also announced in the Budget, would be insufficient to meet the increased workload from benefit reforms, she said.
Labour leader David Shearer said New Zealand children living in poverty would not be helped by a Budget of ''exploring ideas and piloting programmes''.
''That won't feed the kids who are going to school hungry.''
Welfare
• A whiteware procurement programme for beneficiaries to buy new appliances with repayable grants.
• A pilot programme supporting low and no interest loans for low-income borrowers.
• $100 million for a home insulation programme targeting low income households.
• $188.6 million for welfare reforms including $174 million of new funding on top of the $287.5 million in the 2012 Budget.
• The hiring of 354 more Work and Income staff.
• An extra $1.5 million for budgeting services in 2013-14.
• $16.4 million for sole parents who return to work before they are required to.
