That's convenient

We may be interested in tracking recipients of welfare but the government is not.

Working For Families assistance allowed a beneficiary working part-time to move onto an In Work payment as long as they were working, in the case of a single parent, at least 20 hours a week.

Here is the official advice from Ministry of Social Development CEO Peter Hughes;

"When clients exit benefit, Work and Income does not record whether a person went on to receive an In-Work payment. I am also advised that when a person applies for the In-Work Payment, Inland Revenue does not record whether the person has just left benefit."

How convenient.

Next time you hear Benson-Pope congratulating himself and Work and Income about the DPB numbers going down you will just have to picture a question-mark in your mind - like I do.