About 110,000 families will have less money in their pockets next year, of which over 23,000 earn less than $60,000 combined annual income, following cuts to Working For Families unveiled in the budget.
Finance Minister Bill English will this afternoon release a tough Budget aimed at battling rising debt.
The Government has delivered a budget that will bring its books back into the black by 2014, and the price will be paid by the public service, more than 100,000 parents in the Working for Families scheme, and KiwiSavers who will have to put more of their own money into their accounts.
In last week's budget, there were changes to the calculation of the Working For Families Tax Credit WFFTC, specifically around the threshold for abatement (reducing slightly to $35,000) and the increasing abatement rate (going from 20% to 25%).
Dunedin accountant Michael Cunningham (23) believes the Government should have taken an extra step in Budget 2011 and made KiwiSaver compulsory.
Changes to the student loan scheme brought a feeling of relief to University of Otago economics and politics student Kaitlen O'Connor (20) yesterday.
After expecting "doom and gloom", Shawn Deaker (33) was thrilled to find his family better off under the Government's Working for Families Budget changes.
The University of Otago's medical school could see more scholars after additional funding for up to 40 domestic medical students was announced in the Budget yesterday.
Student leaders have condemned Budget announcements which they claim will put education and training out of reach of many New Zealanders - women being among the hardest hit.
Access to early childhood education (ECE) was a focus of yesterday's Budget, though the announcement failed to bring relief to services struggling with increased operating costs.
The funding boost for dementia care is the "good news item" for the Southern District Health Board, funding and finance general manager Robert Mackway-Jones says.
Yesterday's Budget does not address the "fundamentals of health" and appears to be damage control, Paula Stickings says.
Workers face lower wage increases in future as the Government moves to get employers to increase their KiwiSaver contributions for their employees from April 1, 2013.
Otago Daily Times business and political editor Dene Mackenzie gives his thoughts on today's Budget.
Ruby Martin was raking up leaves in her backyard when she was mentioned by name in Phil Goff's speech in Parliament.
State-owned energy companies Mighty River Power, Genesis, Meridian and Solid Energy are still earmarked for a partial sell-down by the Government, which is also considering reducing its stake in Air New Zealand.
The Government has increased its infrastructure spending but has clawed back more than $500 million of unused spending to include in the Budget's $1.6 billion allocation.
A new Earthquake Kiwi Bond being launched by the Government to help fund rebuilding in Christchurch should appeal to philanthropists.
Lower-income families will get a greater slice of Working for Families (WFF) funding, while those on high incomes may lose it, as the Government tries to maintain the increasingly expensive scheme.
The Government's books are set to return to surplus sooner, although Finance Minister Bill English is ju
