2023 Australasian Actuarial Education and Research Symposium

Wayne Anderson and John Gibbs - Plenary Session 2

New Zealand Ministry of Social Development - Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora

The COVID-19 Wage Subsidy and the role of actuaries

This is joint work with Yan Chen

New Zealand’s COVID-19 Wage Subsidies were one of the key supports to employers and employees during the COVID-19 lock-downs and higher alert levels. These provided over $15b to support employers retain their employees during the pandemic, and ensured their employees had incomes. This talk will discuss:
- What was the wage subsidy, and why did it matter?
- What we did to help understand who was receiving support?
- Why actuaries were involved?