NZ First would make the Working for Families boost permanent at $120
NZ First would make the temporary Working for Families boost permanent and more than double it. The party announced the policy on Saturday. It also promised to lift the minimum wage by at least inflation every year.
Both pledges come less than a month before the 7 November election.
Working for Families includes a payment called the in-work tax credit. That credit currently has a $50-a-week boost on top. 1News reported that the boost runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, or ends sooner if 91 petrol stays below $3 a litre for four weeks in a row.
NZ First would keep the boost and raise it to $120 a week. That would bring the total credit to $217 a week for families using the scheme, according to 1News.
That's $70 a week more than the current boost. By this publication's estimate, an eligible family would get about $3,640 a year on top of what the boost pays now, if the payment ran every week of the year.
The policy would cost an estimated $500 million to $600 million a year, and the party said the cost was worthwhile, according to 1News. The published reports of the announcement don't say how NZ First would pay for it.
"This policy will turn the temporary relief into a long-term pathway for hard working parents to be able to plan for their families' future," the party said, as quoted by 1News.
Winston Peters had already hinted at the figure. At the Stuff Kingmakers' debate, he said that if petrol prices stayed above $3 he would increase Working for Families to possibly $120, interest.co.nz reported. On Saturday the party went further and made it permanent.
Peters promised to raise the minimum wage by at least inflation every year of the next term of government, interest.co.nz reported.
"New Zealand First has always ensured our lowest paid workers have seen a yearly increase to the minimum wage," Peters said, according to interest.co.nz. The party's statement, quoted by 1News, said: "Workers need to have the ability to afford the basics without falling behind the rate of inflation – it's just common sense."
Neither report puts a dollar figure on what an inflation-linked rise would be worth.