Retirement has become an outdated concept for 140,000 New Zealanders who have reached 65 and are still clocking in to work.

Retirement used to be synonymous with receiving National Superannuation. Not any more.

COMMENT: Heart-breaking stories of families living in cars, garages and overcrowded houses demonstrate that our welfare state is broken, writes Catriona MacLennan.

The Government will pay beneficiaries $3000 to move to cities such as Auckland for work.

Society's most vulnerable will receive a $650 million funding boost spanning health, welfare and education services aimed at helping those at-risk "lead better lives".

"I'm so frustrated," Tony Lepage said. "Our Government is spending $26 million on the flag - $26 million would be swallowed up for the homeless in a week".

An 81-year-old man who has been on welfare for 29 years has had his benefit stopped because Winz has belatedly decided that he didn't meet residency requirements.

COMMENT: Tale of two women: tax credit system leaves those without a partner for support at an unfair disadvantage.

Rising rents are believed to be driving a 46 per cent jump in food parcels being handed out each month by the Auckland City Mission since the middle of last year.

Applicants who are "too picky" will be removed from the waiting list under stricter new rules.

Welfare rolls have risen in Canterbury for the first time since reconstruction work began after the 2011 earthquake.

It's a simple formula: buy a delicious lunch, and a hungry child will get one too.

The latest report tells us 29 per cent of children lived in poverty in 2014, up from 24 per cent the previous year. About 14 per cent live in material hardship, lacking several of the items most New Zealanders would consider essential.

The Children's Commissioner is overwhelmed by the public response to his new social media campaign.

An alarming number of Auckland families are being forced to live together in one house so they can afford rent and living expenses.

One of New Zealand's biggest aged-care providers is believed to have been picked by Auckland Council to take over managing the council's 1412 pensioner flats.

Pensioners, disabled people and low-income families will benefit from a surprise Government decision to fund 508 social housing units in Auckland.

When Daryl Brougham was 11, his social worker said: "Daryl, the way you're going, you're going to end up in jail."

Growing numbers of Kiwis risk becoming homeless in old age because of falling home ownership rates, rising rents and static housing subsidies, the Salvation Army says.

The Citizens Advice Bureau said the shortage was experienced not just in Auckland and Christchurch, but nationwide.

More than 30,000 New Zealanders had their benefits cut last financial year for travelling overseas without letting officials know.

COMMENT: Tuhoe boss Tamati Kruger wants the tribe to be independent and free of welfare dependency - which is a good thing, writes Rodney Hide.

Welfare, says Tuhoe leader Tamati Kruger, is a "disease" that has sapped the motivation of his people.

Editorial: While it is in our interests to provide all reasonable assistance to enable them to establish a new life here, we should not sympathise with their predicament too much.

The CYF review panel recommends a child-centred system, "where the voices and needs of children and young people are at the forefront of everything the agency does".

State house tenants from around New Zealand plan to march on Parliament against Government plans to sell 1600 houses in Tauranga and Invercargill.