jobseeker benefit

Benefits are on blast at the moment, but one professor thinks a universal basic income may be cheaper. 

Data from the Ministry of Social Development shows that 109,000 kiwis on the Jobseeker benefit have received it for at least a year. 

Tim Hazledine, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Auckland, suggests we scrap the welfare system altogether, replacing it with a universal basic income. 

He told Kerre Woodham that currently, the amount the government spends on various social handouts and programmes is more than what a universal income of $300 a week would cost. 

He said that giving every adult $600 a fortnight regardless of their financial earnings is fiscally neutral, and would give them certainty and assurance. 

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The criticisms have come thick and fast in the wake of the coalition government's announcement that there would be sanctions applied to job seekers who choose not to actively look for work, despite help and support that is supposed to be coming from MSD officials. If after all that help and support you, choose not to take a job, then sanctions will apply.  

I'm starting to know what you mean when you say the media is biased. All of the images shown on all of the mainstream media show an aggressive looking Luxon laying down the law, and emotive headlines from the Greens and the like, talking about the cruelty of it all.  

Minister for Social Development Louise Upston says she has written to the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development to make this government’s view clear that they want to see all obligations and sanctions applied. If job seekers fail to attend job interviews, to complete their pre-employment tasks, or to take work that is available, then there needs to be consequences and that will come in the form of sanctions.  

She also announced that from June, the ministry will begin work check-ins for job seekers who have been on benefits for six months, particularly young people. These check-ins, she said, will make sure job seeker beneficiaries are taking appropriate steps to find employment and are receiving the right help. They reckon the checks will capture about 2500 mainly younger people per month.  

Now the former social development minister Carmel Sepuloni, says people deserve to be supported into meaningful long-term employment, and sanctions will not do this. She says this government is quickly building a legacy of cruelty. Instead of supporting people to provide for themselves and their whanau, this government has actively sought to push people further and further into poverty. 

How? How are they doing that? By asking you to work if you can? To offer you help and assistance to get work? How is that cruel? I would argue allowing people to stay on benefits when they have the ability to work as far more cruel. And if the taxpayer is funding a benefit for a person and their family, that person is not providing for themselves in their whanau. They are state dependent. That's not being self-sufficient. That's not self-supporting. That's not having choices.  

And okay, if the sanctions that National are proposing don't encourage people to seek long term employment, which of Labour's policies did? How did Labour help these young people find meaningful work? The stats under the previous government are pretty damning.  

Stats New Zealand released numbers yesterday and showed the number of youth not in employment, not in education, and not in training rose by 3000 people over the December quarter. I mean one is bad enough, but 3000 in one quarter? The rate for young women also increased to 14%, up from 12.5%.  

Young people are disproportionately impacted by tightening economic conditions. It's worrying that 40,000 people under the age of 25 are currently on a job seeker benefit. That is an increase of 66 per cent compared to six years ago, at a time when employers have been screaming out for someone, anyone.  

40,000 people under the age of 25 on a job seeker benefit, an increase of 66% compared to six years ago! I would argue that's the cruelty. Not the suggestion that sanctions will apply, but only if you fail to do the most basic requirements of finding a job. Former WINZ CEO Christine Rankin agrees. She says it is absolutely no fun on a benefit.  

“Being on a benefit is just poverty, you know, that's your future. You rot on a benefit. This government is being responsible. This is a courageous policy and you know it's taxpayers money and for beneficiaries to be on this for 13 years is an absolute disgrace, and it is a long standing Labour view that they have a right to be on benefit and not work if it's a basic job, you've got to find something big and paying very well before they'll push it ... It's supposed to be a fill in where people survive while they take the steps to a better life. If they're on there for a very long period of time, there's no way they could survive. So, what else are some people doing to manage to be on there that long?” 

That is Christine Rankin talking to Mike Hosking this morning. 40,000 people under the age of 25 on a job seeker benefit, an increase of 66% compared to six years ago - that tells me that Labour's policies have not worked when it comes to getting young people into meaningful work. That tells them that it's okay to rely on the state for the rest of your life. Where you will have few choices, limited options. It will always be grinding poverty.  

How is that kind? And I would really love to know. I didn't hear that question being asked of Marama Davidson yesterday. I don't see that it's kind to keep people on benefits, and yet what do you do? I know of a business that's had to closed down in a very small town in the Far North. They were desperately trying to get young people in the district where unemployment is high because there are few opportunities. They would take the van. They would knock on the doors, they would give them the soap, the shampoo, the clothes they needed to turn up for work. The longest one of the kids lasted was three days and then they just could not get up in the morning. They'd stayed up all night. They tried, I think, about 11 or 12 young people, young men and women, and the kids had the best of intentions initially.  

But because they've come from three years where they haven't had to show up for anything. During Covid that wasn't even an option because the schools were closed. They don't know how to get out of bed in the morning and how is letting them keep doing that good for them. For any young person? You see, that to me is the cruelty. We're just running on different train tracks. The Greens and Carmel, who I think is fantastic and does great work with the people, but the stats don't lie. The number of kids under 25 on job seeker has increased by 66% since Labour became part of a government and then sole charge.  

What the hell is the future of those kids? 

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Guess what I was accused of the other day? I was accused of elder abuse.  

Now, this wasn’t for real. It was from someone who got a bit overexcited about what I was saying about people over-65 getting the NZ Super pension when they still earn more than $100K a year. 

A bit extreme, I thought. But there you go. 

But I bet the same person who was accusing me of elder abuse won’t be accusing the Government today of beneficiary abuse with its crackdown on people slacking around on a benefit when they could be out working. 

That’s because some people have the view that all beneficiaries are guilty of being slackers until proven innocent, don’t they? 

Which is a view opposition parties and beneficiary groups are accusing the government of having by writing to MSD and telling it to make sure that people on the unemployment benefit aren’t living it up on the taxpayer when they could be getting a job. 

And if they are being slack, then the party’s over. Not that I would describe being on a benefit as a party.  

I’ve never actually been on a benefit. Which I reckon is good luck, as much as anything. 

Yes, I know there’s no shortage of people who bang-on about working 60 hours-a-week and how that’s their choice and anyone else could make the same choice. 

But, while these people will tell you it’s because they choose to do it, that’s not the whole story. Just like me never needing to go on a benefit anytime in my life - until now - the 60-hour-a-week champions are just the same and, like anyone, could find themselves needing to go on a benefit in the blink of an eye. 

The difference, though, is choice. And it’s the ones who actively choose a benefit over working that the Government has its sights on. 

Which I believe, has to happen. I’m all for accountability and the people who genuinely need support actually getting it. 

And if this approach the Government is taking sees the tap being turned-off for gang members, for example, who are claiming a benefit but also earning money from illegal activity such as drug dealing, then brilliant. 

The opposition parties who have been quick to accuse the Government of beneficiary bashing seem to have conveniently forgotten about these turkeys - or, at the very least, they’re not talking about them. 

But, overall, I think we have no option but to make sure that people on benefits do have a genuine need. 

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Criticism of the Government’s welfare reforms have been coming in thick and fast. 

Figures from Stats NZ have revealed that 40,000 people under the age of 25 are currently on the Jobseeker benefit, an increase of 66% compared to six years ago. 

The Government plans to increase the number of check ins for those on the benefit and reintroduce sanctions for those who don’t meet their obligations. 

Youthtown CEO Fay Amaral told Kerre Woodham that there are common factors among this demographic that keep them on the benefit, notably mental health and confidence. 

She said that young people aren’t being given the right support in schools, which results in the belief that if they don’t have university entrance or a degree, they won’t be able to get anything. 

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Labour's defending its work in the benefit space when in government, saying it takes time for change to occur. 

Social Development Minister Louise Upston's announced a ramp up of work check-ins for jobseekers, with sanctions for those who don't meet obligations, starting in June. 

Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni told Mike Hosking that when she was minister, there were record levels of people leaving benefits to get into employment. 

But she says there were a lot of people coming onto the benefit who didn't necessarily have the skills to match the jobs that were out there, which is why they invested in upskilling and training. 

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The Salvation Army says lifting people off benefits and into jobs is easier said than done.  

The Government's looking to change benefit legislation that would see income support rise only with the rate of inflation. 

Under Labour benefits rose with wage growth each year, which generally rises faster than inflation. 

Salvation Army Head of Social Services, Lynette Hutson told Mike Hosking that many people receiving them are without any transport or education. 

She says it's a very simple answer to say get everyone a job and it will be okay ... it doesn't work like that. 

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If you're after a bit of beneficiary bashing, then you’re probably going to be disappointed. 

But if you want to know why I think someone getting the Jobseeker unemployment benefit is now expected to spend an average of 13 years on a benefit, then keep reading. 

I’ll explain what I mean, but the key word for me is “confidence”. Which I’ll get to shortly. 

But I know there will be no shortage of people up and down the country today banging-on about this new statistic which has come from some modelling work done for the Government. That someone getting the Jobseeker unemployment benefit is now expected to spend an average of 13 years on a benefit.  

And there’ll be talk about dole bludgers and lamos. Maybe there’ll be a bit of talk about boot camps and military training as well. 

But I bet what you won’t hear much of, is anything close to compassion. 

And the reason we won’t hear it, is because not even government departments like Work & Income and the Ministry of Social Development, that are supposed to be helping people get off the dole and into work, they don’t even seem to get it. 

And, if they don't get it, what chance is there of the rest of us getting it?  

So, what is it exactly that they’re not getting?  

They’re not getting the fact that when someone ends up on the dole —and any other benefit too, possibly— but certainly the dole; the impact that can have on their confidence is massive. 

That’s why I think this is all about confidence, as much as anything.  

Because, as we all know, the minute your confidence takes a hit, so does everything else in your life. 

And I don’t think we really understand how much of a hit your confidence takes when you sign up for the dole. I’m not claiming that I understand it, because I’ve never had to do it. 

But what I do know, is that there’s probably only one or two degrees of separation between me and the unemployment benefit. It’ll be the same for you. Unless you’re on the dole already. And, if you are, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.  

I’d like to think —as we all would— that I would never have to sign up for the dole. But there’s no guarantee. I’d also like to think that, if things did go pear-shaped for me, I’d be able to get work pretty quickly. But if my confidence went downhill, then maybe not. 

I’m always amazed whenever someone, who I think is on top of things and super confident, tells me they have low or no confidence in themselves. And these aren’t people on a benefit. These aren’t people stuck in the WINZ and MSD system. 

Yes, there are no-hopers in our society. There always have and there always will be. And not much can be done for them. And whether we can do anything for their kids too is a big issue. Because inter-generational welfare dependency is a thing. It’s a thing in New Zealand and a thing around the world. 

Social Development Minister Louise Upston was on Newstalk ZB this morning saying the Government is going to incentivise people to work. Which is political-speak for consequences.  

But nowhere is anyone talking about the single biggest thing stopping some people from getting off the dole.  

The Government can talk as tough as it wants about “incentivising” people to work. But if someone’s confidence in themselves is completely shot, then no amount of incentivising and penalising is going to work. 

And until we recognise that and do something to help unemployed people restore their self-confidence, so that they’re not freaked out by the idea of making a phone call or sending an email —let alone turning-up to a job interview— until we do something about that, nothing is going to change. 

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At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.  

 

Infrastructure: 3/10 

From the sink holes in Auckland to the bugs and illness in Queenstown, how third world does this country seem right now? 

 

Auckland Airport: 3/10 

Not only are the punters over it but the airlines have joined the queue as well. How much bad press does it take before someone there actually pulls finger? 

 

The second Leader's debate: 6/10 

Because it was a world away from the first one. But honestly, as far as education and insight is concerned, we are hardly setting the world on fire are we? 

 

The NZ First call: 2/10 

At the risk of saying "I told you so" Christopher, I told you so. In not ruling NZ First out and being clear from day one, how has the week gone for you? 

 

National and Jobseeker: 8/10 

Policy of the week. Not because it's revolutionary, because it isn't, but because it will restore an element of decorum to the moral, fiscal and social shambles we endure at the moment. 

 

Overstayers and amnesties: 2/10 

Policy fail of the week. The simple truth is indisputable; you can't come to this country and lie about it and then get let off. As someone called Trump once said: "if you don't have borders, you don’t have a country". 

 

Dan Andrews: 6/10 

Because although he is a dictatorial ogre, he did get re-elected twice, and in a democracy, the voter is never wrong. 

 

Eddie Jones: 3/10 

And we thought Ian Foster was an issue.  

 

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