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Benefit sanctions under New Zealand’s 2024 system affected 2% of recipients, mainly over missed appointments, not job refusal, with limited success in reducing unemployment.
Benefit sanctions under New Zealand’s 2024 traffic light system have affected only about 2% of JobSeeker and Sole Parent Support recipients, primarily due to missed appointments or lack of work preparation, not job non-participation.
Despite rising to 12,900 by September 2025—double the pre-policy average—most sanctions reduced benefits, with young people, men, and Māori and Pacific individuals disproportionately impacted.
Economist Rob Heyes says job scarcity limits the policy’s effectiveness, risking deeper poverty or poor-quality work, and data gaps prevent tracking employment outcomes.
With JobSeeker recipients at 218,000 by September 2025—above the 190,000 baseline—sanctions may have slowed growth but failed to meet the government’s 2030 target, highlighting structural labor market constraints.
Las sanciones de beneficios en virtud del sistema de 2024 de Nueva Zelanda afectaron al 2% de los beneficiarios, principalmente por citas perdidas, no por rechazo de trabajo, con un éxito limitado en la reducción del desempleo.