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More than 10,000 more withdrawals were made from KiwiSaver for hardship reasons last year than in 2024, and providers say there's no sign of the rate slowing.
Inland Revenue data shows there were 58,460 withdrawals for hardship reasons in 2025, 10,000 more than were made for a first home.
In total, $514.8 million was withdrawn from KiwiSaver because of hardship, and $2.1 billion for a first home.
In 2024, there were 47,390 hardship withdrawals to a total of $403.8m
Dean Anderson, founder of Kernel, said it showed the two-speed economic recovery that New Zealand was experiencing.
The le
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