College student benefit increase

Press, 21 February 1987, Page 3

College student benefit increase

Wellington reporter

The emergency benefit paid to high school students aged between 18 and 20 has been increased from $6 to $22, the Minister of Social Welfare, Mrs Hercus, announced yesterday.

The increase, which aimed to encourage students who wanted to continue their high school education, was prompted by the introduction of Family Support The emergency benefit had been $6 a week, which was equivalent to the family benefit payment for students under 18, Mrs Hercus said. The introduction of Family Support, however, meant that high school students aged 18 or over, and their families, could be financially disadvantaged, because they would not be eligible for the new benefit.

To make up for this, the emergency benefit had been increased by $l6 to $22. The increase was equivalent to the average Family Support payment and applied from the start of the school year. Students aged between 15 and 18, and their families, are eligible for family benefit and Family Support payments. Students aged between 18 and 20 are eligible for the emergency benefit. An emergency benefit can also be made to adult students, over the age of 20, who return to high school. This payment, made after consideration by the Social Security Commission, is up to the level of the tertiary assistance grant.

Mr Cliff Dale sits among a shipment of pop-up < toasters which will be exported to Australia. The Bromley manufacturer, C. W. Dale and Company, Ltd, has won a big order to export its

new electronicallycontrolled pop-up toasters to Australia. The first shipment of just under 4000 toasters will leave Lyttelton on Monday. Mr Dale, the managing director, said the

order covered all of this year and would mean a turnover of some millions of dollars in the long-term. He said the staff of 30 might have to be increased about 50 per cent in the next few

months. “This is most heartening for a Christchurch manufacturer ia a depressed area, and in a depressed economy, and shows what can be done with a professional approach with the right product,” he said.