NZ Super was a key focus of the 2022 RRIP. Research was undertaken to better understand how reliant New Zealanders are on it and its importance as a pillar of retirement income Policies.
Research found that NZ Super is critical to the majority of New Zealanders – with 40% of people aged 65 and over having virtually no other income besides NZ Super and another 20% having only a little more.
The importance of NZ Super is that it is part of stable and consistent retirement policy that allows people to plan over a long period of time and is a largely equitable system that is relatively simple to administer.
The key recommendation of the RRIP is that the age of eligibility to access NZ Super must remain the same. Any increase to the age of eligibility will only further disadvantage women, Māori, and Pacific People.
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Media release: New research highlights how reliant older New Zealanders are on NZ Super
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Media release: Will NZ Super be enough to support a nation of people paying off mortgages and rent?
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Household housing: tenure, costs, and trends, The Treasury (2022)
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Housing tenure by age, cost, ethnicity, and time
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NZ Superannuation residency eligibility changes: Evidence from border movement data, NZWR (2022)
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Description of New Zealand's current retirement income policies, MSD (2022)