Barry Walker and partner Yan will be on a reduced income for the next decade.
A pensioner feels “betrayed by the Government” after a “nasty little hole” in the system slashed his superannuation by hundreds of dollars a fortnight.
Barry Walker, 77, was receiving $1176 fortnightly for his pension until he told the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) he was in a relationship with 65-year-old Hongyang Zhou, at which point his pension was cut to the couple rate, dropping to $828.
Hongyang (who goes by Yan) is retired and receives no pension from her home country. She won’t be eligible to receive New Zealand Superannuation for another decade, meaning Walker must support them both on his reduced pension.
She has a small “medical” pension that operated similar to KiwiSaver, which remains in China for medical costs if she should ever return home.
To receive the New Zealand pension, she must have been living here for 11 years since the age of 20.
Five of those years must be after the age of 50, and the years only begin accruing from when the person obtains a residence visa, which happened recently for Yan.
The couple rate is designed for people in a relationship who receive some form of Government benefit, and are able to share some financial costs, and therefore require less money than a person living alone.
In Walker’s case, his costs had gone up while his funds had gone down, and he calculated the amount lost to be $90,000-$100,000 across the 11 years it would take for Yan to start receiving the pension herself.
“It really shows the fact that there’s a hole in the system,” he said. “It’s a nasty little hole.”
“[There’s] going to be people like me, the older guy who meets an immigrant 12 years into retirement and suddenly their super gets chopped.”
Walker was not expecting Yan to receive the pension before she was eligible, nor was he against the couple rate policy under “normal circumstances”.
However, he felt it was common sense he should remain on a higher rate if his retired partner could not receive an income.
He said it would be difficult for Yan to go back to work, as they lived in a small town with little to no employment opportunities.
If she were able to find a job in nearby Dunedin, that would take on a 65-year-old with a language barrier, the job would need to fit around the sparse public transport options available.
Walker said life had been “quite tough” since his pension shrunk. He had been selling household items, such as his chainsaw, and getting financial help from his daughter.
“I’m not on the bones of my ass but I just feel that I have no flexibility. I can’t really put anything away,” he said.
“I have worked 50 years in New Zealand, paid all my income tax, paid my company tax, employee tax, contributed, I believe, to the country ... I feel like I’ve been betrayed by the Government.”
Walker previously worked in IT and considered himself financially stable before this happened.
“When you retire at 65 you know you’re going to retire and you know to put money aside. My situation at 77 is so different to what I was at 65. My whole circumstances changed, my savings are completely evaporated compared to what they were at 65,” he said.
“Then I have this happen, it’s like pulling the rug out from under me because I fell in love with a Chinese lady.”
Simon MacPherson, Ministry of Social Development (MSD) deputy chief executive for policy, said the social security system was built on the understanding couples shared costs and supported each other financially.
“That’s why we are required by legislation to pay people different rates if they are single or in a relationship,” he said.
“Treating some couples differently to others would raise questions about consistency and equal treatment. Any changes to this policy would be a decision for the government of the day.”
He said someone over 65 who didn’t qualify for the pension might still qualify for other financial assistance from MSD, such as an accommodation supplement, disability allowance, a community services card or temporary additional support.
“We encourage anyone who’s struggling financially to contact us and discuss what they may be eligible for.”
MSD also provided a “wide range of support” to help people find work, including older people.
“We understand there are a range of views about how the welfare system should operate, and these debates have at times included the question of whether to individualise benefit payments.”
A spokeswoman for Social Development Minister Louise Upston noted past policy allowed for people in Yan’s position to receive the pension early if they were in a relationship with someone eligible for super.
That policy was changed by the previous Government in 2020 with the reasoning it would make the system more equitable, she said.
There are no plans to make further changes to the policy.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 12 years.