Published on 30 Apr 2026

Understanding real experiences to shape better income support

Projects
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Dr Rebecca Gray Senior Consultant Contact me

Bringing together lived experience expertise and research rigour to inform future policy.

 

Allen + Clarke partnered with disability specialists to uncover how New Zealand's income support system works for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. Our research gave the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) clear evidence of where their system creates barriers, enabling them to identify specific improvements that could reduce hardship and support people to live fulfilling lives.

The research delivered robust evidence illuminating disabled people's real experiences with income support. Our findings revealed both systemic barriers and practical solutions, providing MSD with actionable insights to improve support for disabled people, their parents and caregivers, and those with long-term health conditions.

Key outcomes for the Ministry of Social Development

 

 

    • Publication of evidence-based insights from 35 in-depth interviews revealing where income support systems work well and where critical gaps exist.
    • 10 accessible personas that translate complex findings into narratives that policy teams can use to inform decisions.
    • Clear identification of priority improvements including reducing navigation burden, ensuring consistent entitlements, and addressing diagnostic barriers.
  

The challenge: Understanding lived experience behind the statistics

 

 

The Ministry of Social Development knew that households with disabled people or those with long-term health conditions face higher rates of financial hardship. However, they lacked detailed evidence about the lived experiences behind these statistics.

MSD had quantitative data from a nationally representative survey of 1,852 people, and needed to use these data to understand:

    • How people managed extra costs in their daily lives
    • What happened when needs went unmet
    • Why people weren't accessing their full entitlements
  

Our approach: Centring disability voices with research rigour

 

Our team partnered with All is for All, a specialist disability consultancy and creative agency, bringing together social research expertise with authentic disability perspectives. This partnership was essential – the project required researchers who understand disability is not a problem to solve.


We combined specialist expertise with a participant-centred approach:

Adaptive sampling

We recruited 35 participants with diverse experiences through survey sampling and direct disability community networks.

Flexible, accessible engagement

·       We conducted interviews face-to-face, online, or by telephone; with accommodations including breaks, interpreters, and flexible scheduling.

Collaborative analysis

We used reflexive thematic analysis and hosted sensemaking sessions with MSD and expert advisors.

Innovative reporting

We created composite vignettes that made complex findings understandable while protecting participant anonymity

Person in wheelchair consulting with healthcare provider

 

The result: Usable evidence of where systems affect people’s access to what they need – both positively and negatively.

 

The research delivered robust evidence illuminating disabled people's real experiences with income support. Our findings revealed both systemic barriers and practical solutions, providing MSD with actionable insights to improve support for disabled people, their parents and caregivers, and those with long-term health conditions.

A key strength was the accessibility of our personas approach. By creating composite narratives from multiple participants' experiences, we made complex findings usable for policy teams and other stakeholders. This enabled MSD to understand not just what barriers existed, but how they affected real people in their daily lives.

  

The impact: Evidence that drives improvements

 

 

The research positioned MSD to make targeted improvements across their income support system:

    • Published accessible research:  We completed 35 interviews and published findings publicly while protecting participant anonymity through our personas approach. We presented to disability sector groups as part of wider strategic discussions on access, ableism, and disabled people’s rights to opportunities.
    • System gaps identified: We provided clear evidence of priority areas including reducing navigation burden, ensuring consistent entitlements, and addressing diagnostic barriers.
    • Foundation for policy change: Our findings gave MSD an evidence base demonstrating how longstanding policy and delivery approaches, and underpinning assumptions, can normalise the extra burdens disabled people and their families carry.

This project demonstrates Allen + Clarke's commitment to research that genuinely centres the voices of those most affected. Partnering with disability specialists and taking a strengths-based approach to representing how participants adapted to manage complex situations and limited budgets, we helped MSD understand where their systems create barriers and how to remove them, supporting disabled people to live healthy, fulfilling lives.