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MSD data via eolas

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) administers New Zealand's working-age benefit system, NZ Superannuation, the housing register, and student support. eolas serves 12 datasets from MSD — the canonical official statistics on who's receiving what kind of support.

If you're doing labour-market analysis, social-policy research, housing-affordability work, or fiscal modelling — MSD is the source.

What's in the catalogue

Working-age benefits

Dataset Description
msd_main_benefit_summary Quarterly count of recipients by benefit type (Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent, Supported Living, etc.).
msd_main_benefit_characteristics Same quarterly recipients broken down by gender, age, ethnicity, region.
msd_benefit_by_ta Quarterly recipient counts by territorial authority.
msd_benefit_grants New benefit grants (flow, not stock) by quarter + benefit type.
msd_benefit_cancels Benefit cancellations by quarter + reason.
msd_benefit_sanctions Quarterly count of sanctions imposed by benefit type, 2021+.

NZ Superannuation + Veteran's Pension

Dataset Description
msd_nzs_vp_summary Quarterly count of NZS + Veteran's Pension recipients.
msd_nzs_recipient_characteristics NZS recipients broken down by gender, age, ethnicity.

Housing

Dataset Description
msd_housing_register_priority Quarterly count of public-housing applicants by priority band (A / B).
msd_housing_register_ta Same housing register by territorial authority.

Student support

Dataset Description
msd_student_allowance Annual Student Allowance recipients, amounts, averages by category.
msd_student_loan Annual Student Loan counts + amounts by loan component (fees, course costs, living costs).

Refresh schedule

Weekly, Wednesday morning NZ time. MSD publishes most series quarterly; student support is annual (calendar year, after the academic year closes).

meta = client.info("msd_main_benefit_summary")
meta["last_refreshed_at"]
meta["source_last_modified_at"]

License

All MSD data is published under CC-BY 4.0. Commercial use is fine; attribution required.

Recommended attribution: "Source: Ministry of Social Development, served via eolas (eolas.fyi). CC-BY 4.0."

Common patterns

Jobseeker Support trend through cycles

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

bs = client.msd("msd_main_benefit_summary", start="2015-01-01")
jss = bs[bs["benefit_type"] == "Jobseeker Support"]
jss.plot(x="date", y="count", title="Jobseeker Support recipients")
plt.show()

library(dplyr)
library(ggplot2)

bs <- eolas_get_msd("msd_main_benefit_summary", start = "2015-01-01")
jss <- bs |> filter(benefit_type == "Jobseeker Support")
ggplot(jss, aes(date, count)) + geom_line() +
  labs(title = "Jobseeker Support recipients")

Housing register pressure by TA

hr = client.msd("msd_housing_register_ta", start="2018-01-01")
# Top 10 TAs by housing register count, latest quarter
latest = hr[hr["date"] == hr["date"].max()]
top = latest.groupby("ta_name")["count"].sum().sort_values(ascending=False).head(10)
print(top)

NZS as share of working-age population

nzs = client.msd("msd_nzs_vp_summary")
nzs_total = nzs.groupby("date")["count"].sum()
# Compare to total population from Stats NZ
pop = client.statsnz("popes_erp_components")
combined = pop.merge(nzs_total.rename("nzs"), on="date")
combined["nzs_share"] = combined["nzs"] / combined["population"]
combined.plot(x="date", y="nzs_share", title="NZS recipients / total population")

Source-specific notes

  • Working-age = 18-64: the "main benefit" series excludes NZS (65+) and student support. Use the appropriate series for your question.
  • Sanctions data starts 2021: prior years don't have a comparable sanctions series. Don't read pre-2021 zeros as actual zero sanctions.
  • TA boundaries vary by vintage: the ta_name field in msd_*_by_ta series uses TA boundaries as of the publication quarter. Pre-2017 data uses the pre-amalgamation Auckland names; recent uses single Auckland Council.
  • Population denominators: many ratios you'll calculate (e.g. benefit recipients per 1000 working-age) need a denominator from Stats NZ — use the popes_* series with matched dates.
  • NZS includes Veteran's Pension: msd_nzs_vp_summary is the combined total. They're administered together but legislated separately. For NZS-only analysis, check the recipient_characteristics breakdown.
  • Sole Parent Support previously called "Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB)": the 2013 reforms renamed and restructured benefits. Historical data is conformed forward where comparable, but cross-2013 series should be read with care.

Where to find more