Who Benefits? The Receipt of Income Support by Age, Gender and Ethnicity

Judith A. Davey

Recent changes in income support policy have been motivated by perceived unsustainable increases in benefit numbers and expenditure. This paper focuses on where in society these demands are arising, which groups are most involved and why. Answering such questions is crucial if the policy response is to be effective and if future trends are to be identified.

Information on income support from the 1981, 1986 and 1991 Censuses was analysed in From Birth to Death III, part of a series of social monitoring reports. This paper uses the report to examine patterns of income support by age, gender and ethnicity over the 1981-91 period. The findings suggest that in 1981 the pattern of benefit receipt was much more highly differentiated between men and women: few men received any type of income support, and women’s benefits were largely associated with child rearing.

There are also marked ethnic differences in receipt of income support under age 60, with Māori and Pacific Island male and females more likely to be in receipt of income support than Pākehā. Overall the paper shows the value and necessity for disaggregation by age, gender and ethnicity if we are to understand social change and the impacts of social policies.