KiwiSaver is working for New Zealanders

New Zealanders across income brackets, age groups, and ethnicities are embracing KiwiSaver according to an evaluation report released today by Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne.

Inland Revenue’s first six-monthly evaluation report shows that the majority of KiwiSavers have been attracted to the scheme because it provides an opportunity to secure a greater income for retirement.

The figures in the evaluation are based on only the first six months of KiwiSaver – there has been a significant shift towards automatic enrolments since the report was completed – but the Ministers said it provided further evidence of KiwiSaver’s success.

“Nearly 500,000 people have joined KiwiSaver – a number that shatters initial expectations,” Dr Cullen said.

“The survey data in this evaluation report should be treated with a grain of salt as the sample size is very small.

“However, it seems clear that KiwiSavers are drawn from right across income bands and ethnic groups. I announced yesterday that KiwiSavers are surprisingly young, with over 100,000 under-25s in the scheme.*

“We are also seeing more and more low- and medium-income workers joining KiwiSaver with the shift towards automatic enrolment. This is a very positive sign. While affordability issues are unsurprisingly a factor for many non-members, KiwiSaver is in fact making it possible for more people to save than ever before.”

“The evaluation also shows that Inland Revenue has on the whole been successful in supporting employers and providers to implement KiwiSaver,” Mr Dunne said.

“Awareness of KiwiSaver is very high and people involved are positive about progress to date.

“I want to pay a special thanks to all the employers who are working hard to make the 1 April introduction of employer contributions and tax credits a success. We have some issues to work through, but we are making good progress.”



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* The evaluation report uses data for the six months ended 31 December 2007.

On Tuesday, the government announced that strong growth in KiwiSaver has continued since that date, with a continued shift towards younger workers, and those who are automatically enrolled and thus more likely to be drawn from a wider range of income brackets.