Forecast welfare spending

Governments come and go with ambitious reform ideas and plans.  Treasury just keeps on forecasting numbers and expenditures seemingly regardless of those policy changes. The depressing thing is, if you were going to put money on who has the most reliable crystal ball, it'd have to go on Treasury. That's what history shows anyway.

Table 6.2 - Welfare benefit expenses (continued)

Beneficiary numbers (Thousands)	2009 Actual	2010 Actual	2011 Actual	2012 Actual	2013 Actual	2014 Forecast	2015 Forecast	2016 Forecast	2017 Forecast	2018 Forecast
New Zealand Superannuation	522	540	561	585	612	640	667	692	716	739
Jobseeker Support and Emergency Benefit1	..	..	..	..	..	138	132	127	125	125
Supported living payment1	..	..	..	..	..	96	96	95	94	94
Sole parent support1	..	..	..	..	..	79	77	77	77	77
Domestic Purposes Benefit1	101	110	114	114	109	..	..	..	..	..
Invalid's Benefit1	86	88	88	87	87	..	..	..	..	..
Sickness Benefit1	50	58	60	60	60	..	..	..	..	..
Unemployment Benefit1	48	78	80	73	67	..	..	..	..	..
Accommodation Supplement	267	312	320	311	305	297	296	294	296	299