Dear Mr Johnston
 
 
 
On 23 August 2017, you emailed the Ministry requesting, under the Official
Information Act 1982, the following statistics for the year 2016 (or
similar period) for the Sole Parent Support Benefit:
 

* A breakdown of any recipients in that period of Sole Parent Support,
by gender and age bracket.

 
The information you have requested is available from the Ministry's
website in the 'Benefit Fact Sheets', here:
[1]www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/index.html
 
The information specifically about the Sole Parent Support benefit is
available in the spreadsheet here: [2]National level data tables - June
2017 (Excel 129.82KB), select the ‘Recipients of Sole Parent Support, by
client type and quarter, last 5 years’ tab. In this tab is a table that
includes the number of recipients of Sole Parent Support, broken down by
the  characteristics of the recipients, including gender and age group,
for the past five years.
 

* A breakdown by how many children are being supported.

 
The Ministry responded to a similar request on 12 December 2016, which I
believe will meet your requirements. The response is available on the
Ministry’s website here:
[3]www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/official-information-responses/2016/december/20161212-parents-on-benefit-by-ages-of-children-va15539722.pdf
and includes a table showing the number of parents receiving Sole Parent
Support, the total number of children supported, and a count of children
by age group.
 
The above Benefit Fact Sheet also contains a breakdown of the number of
recipients of Sole Parent Support, by those that have dependent children
aged under five years and aged five to 13 years.
 
If the above information does not meet your requirements, please let us
know and we will endeavour to provide further information.
 
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[4][MSD request email].
 
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to seek an
investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to make a
complaint is available at [5]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz  or 0800 802 602.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Lew | Ministerial & Executive Services Advisor
Official & Parliamentary Information | Ministry of Social Development | Te
Manatu Whakahiato Ora
56 the Terrace| PO Box 1556 |
Wellington | New Zealand
 
 
 

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