Significant Policies
- National superannuation
By 1975, New Zealand had a generous welfare system, which included unemployment and sickness benefits, a benefit for single parents (the DPB) and a means tested old-age pension. The third National government scrapped Labours contributory scheme and introduced National Superannuation, a non means tested pension available to all New Zealand citizens over the age of 60, linked to the average wage (initially 70% with the intention of increasing it to 80%). This was enormously expensive, costing NZ$2.5 billion per annum by 1984, but nevertheless far more popular than Labour's alternative of a Singaporean Central Provident Fund-style set of individualised compulsory savings.
Read more about this topic: Third National Government Of New Zealand
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