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Welfare should strengthen not threaten - families

Green Party

Monday 29 June 2009, 1:16PM

By Green Party

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New Zealand families are under daily attack from a welfare system that financially rewards couples who split up, while making things hard for those who struggle to stay together.

Green Party Social Development Spokesperson Sue Bradford today appealed to the Government for some commonsense action on keeping families intact.

Ms Bradford said rules around couples receiving unemployment benefit should be eased as times of high unemployment create enormous pressures on couples to split, so one can keep working while the other goes on the DPB.

“If the Government is serious about keeping families together, even in times of hardship, then limits on what the working partner can earn should be raised immediately.

“The current limit of $534 a week means most people with a partner in work, even in a very low wage job, cannot expect any unemployment benefit in their own right.”

Ms Bradford said the Green Party backs calls by economists Susan St John and Keith Rankin (quoted in today’s New Zealand Herald) to completely rewrite New Zealand’s welfare law in the wake of rapidly rising unemployment and changing societal norms.

“The analysis in their paper Escaping the Welfare Mess is right on the button. It is time the Government scrapped the old Social Security Act 1964 and started again, reflecting the huge changes in New Zealand society in the past 42 years.

“Financial pressures that attack the family unit lead to deepening poverty and emotional damage for all concerned, accentuating the impacts of an already tough situation.

“In the long term, poor educational, health and employment outcomes for children and adults in sole parent families will cost us more than easing rules on income levels and benefit entitlements.

“I’ve been fascinated by rising concern on welfare rules now more well-paid people are losing their jobs,” said Ms Bradford. “Many are suddenly realising the oppressive nature of our social security system now it affects them personally.

“The fact that people with partners in paid employment cannot access the unemployment benefit is also keeping some of our jobless statistics artificially low.

“I hope many newly redundant workers will now join the Green Party in calling on Minister Paula Bennett to rethink her position on welfare reform.

“Our social security law is a complicated monstrosity. We need to replace it with a system based on simplicity, fairness and sufficiency,” said Ms Bradford.

“If we start to lift income levels for those who have least – whose whole income goes on immediate survival - then everyone benefits.”