New Zealand offers unemployed cash to move to quake-ravaged city
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Unemployed New Zealanders are being offered cash to move to the earthquake-damaged city of Christchurch and join in the rebuilding effort.
The government on Tuesday announced it would pay welfare recipients 3,000 New Zealand dollars to move to the city if they found any kind of full-time work there.
Christchurch has been rebuilding after a 2011 quake killed 185 people and destroyed much of its downtown.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the city’s reconstruction is creating thousands of jobs but some unemployed people don’t have the resources to move to Christchurch.
She says the money will help pay for moving expenses, accommodation, tools and other equipment.
Bennett says the Canterbury region, which includes Christchurch, has an unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent compared with the six per cent national rate.
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