Monthly Reporting
An overview of benefit and supplementary assistance data.
The Monthly Benefits Update compares the present month with both the previous month and the same month in the previous year. The commentary highlights key points from the update. Further comparisons can be found in the supporting data file.
The data file provides the figures used to produce the Monthly Benefits Update and contains selected data cuts.
Latest Monthly Benefits Update release
Monthly Benefits Update - A3
Monthly Benefits Update - Data file
Monthly Benefits Update - Commentary
Release timetable
The Monthly Benefits Update will be released on the following dates:
| Monthly edition | Published |
|---|---|
| April 2024 | 10 May 2024 |
| May 2024 | 14 June 2024 |
| June 2024 | 12 July 2024 |
Social Development data application
For an interactive view of the Ministry’s data, please see our Social Development Data application at:
How we report ethnicity
From December 2021, we introduced a new reporting approach called ‘total response’. Making this change means we recognise all aspects of someone’s ethnicity and allows us to represent the full diversity of communities, whānau, and people in Aotearoa. This reflects our clients more accurately, aligns our approach with Statistics NZ’s reporting, and reflects best practice.
Ethnicity is about people’s identity and sense of belonging. Ethnicity measures cultural affiliation, rather than race, ancestry, nationality, or citizenship. Ethnicity is self-perceived and people can identify with more than one ethnic group. Previously, we reported ethnicity using an approach called ‘prioritised ethnicity’. Prioritised ethnicity meant that we allocated people to a single ethnic group in an order of priority. The priority previously used by MSD was Māori, Pacific Peoples, Other, and NZ European.
Confidentiality - Random Rounding
From 12 February 2021, MSD started applying a range of new confidentiality procedures to public data releases. These procedures will continue to protect client information while making more data available. To find out how we have changed the way we work with client information, please visit:
