Too many obligations

A new survey out about peoples's attitudes to the public service appears to be a mixed bag. I say 'appears' because I can't find the actual survey - just government (good) reports about it and academic (bad) reports.

Here what Auckland University says about the response of beneficiaries;

"This finding supports my own research, where focus group participants believed many beneficiaries are treated like 'second-class' citizens and Work and Income officials and processes are the main culprit", said Dr Humpage, who is leading a new study on understandings of citizenship in New Zealand.

"Participants in focus groups gave example after example whereby Work & Income treated beneficiaries with disrespect - even while they displayed signs on the walls promoting client rights", says Dr. Humpage. Those on the Unemployment and Domestic Purposes benefits were treated the worst, while students and super annuitants did not feel as stigmatised.

"This is the result of the welfare policies we have seen since the 1990s which require many beneficiaries to run around meeting obligations that other New Zealand citizens don't have, just because they receive income support. This is having a negative impact on their sense of belonging and identity as New Zealanders".


What rubbish. DPB and dole recipients have always felt stigmatised. And it was a lot worse in the late 70s and eighties when home checks were carried out. Social welfare was given the tag of 'gestapo' at one stage.

The whole point of universalising benefits was to reduce the stigmatisation. The more people who received them the more 'normal' it would become. Unfortunately it didn't work that way. As numbers grew so did the resentment of those workers funding them.

Typically the left-wing academic rushes to blame the problem on the early 90s policies "which require many beneficiaries to run around meeting obligations that other New Zealand citizens don't have..."

Now isn't that rich. You lucky people out there running businesses, working 70 hour weeks, filing tax returns, complying with OSH regulations, paying rates, etc. You want to try having to put up with the kind of obligations beneficiaries have.