Working for Families would be aimed more at lower-income families which had a greater need for assistance, Prime Minister John Key said yesterday.
The scheme, which this year would cost $2.8 billion in tax credits, would be less generous to families higher up on the Working for Families scale.
"That is bearing in mind that when it comes to Working for Families, being `higher up on the scale' depends on how many children a family has," he said.
For example, the payments currently tailed off at an income of about $75,000 when a family had only one child, but about $130,000 when a family had four children, Mr Key said in a pre-Budget speech.
Working for Families had existed under various names since 1986 and there was no question about it continuing.
Over time, the Government intended to slightly reduce the amount spent on Working for Families but at the same time use a greater proportion of the total spend for the most vulnerable families, he said.
In terms of student loans, the Government had signalled it was looking to bring costs down, within the parameters of an interest-free scheme, Mr Key said.
The generosity of New Zealanders was being stretched. For every $100 loaned to students, taxpayers could expect to get only $55 back in 2011 terms.
That was not good value for taxpayers. The Government needed to ensure borrowers understood that when they chose to access the loan scheme they were also taking on all the responsibilities that came with it, Mr Key said.
None of the changes would happen before the election, he said.
