Patterns across debt and debtors to government


February 2022   |   Reports


The Social Wellbeing Agency, working with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Child Poverty Unit, has completed an analysis of debt owed to the government. Using the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) we investigated groups of people that hold debt to the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Justice, and Inland Revenue, or to two or all of these agencies. This analysis has informed advice from the cross-sector group of government agencies on an ongoing work programme.

The working paper uses data from 2018 and focused on debt to the Ministry of Social Development and Inland Revenue.

The research report builds on this previous analysis and uses debt records through to September 2020. It identifies connections between debt to Inland Revenue, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Justice, and is aimed at filling gaps in understanding about the nature and characteristics of debt and debtors.