26 May 2020

Unemployed woman says Covid-19 benefit too little, too late

From Morning Report, 6:47 am on 26 May 2020

Too little too late - that's how one woman sees the government's new payment to support people who have lost their jobs because of Covid-19.

The payment will be available for 12 weeks from the 8 June - with $490 a week for those who lost full-time work and $250 for part-time.

Alana lost her $80,000 job on the first day of lockdown - her husband's income meant she wasn't eligible for the unemployment benefit, but she did get some extra support through the accommodation supplement.

She told RNZ social issues reporter Sarah Robson, she and her husband have struggled to get by in the weeks since.