New welfare benefit figures confirm that New Zealand is splitting into “two nations”, with big improvements in Auckland and Christchurch but most provincial areas lagging far behind.
Benefit numbers have dropped by 6.9 per cent in Canterbury and by 6.2 per cent in Auckland in the year to March, well ahead of a national decline of 3.7 per cent.
The only other region that bettered the national average was the Bay of Plenty, with a 4 per cent drop. Continue reading
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