Media Release
ALL MAIN BENEFITS ON THE RISE
Thursday, January 29, 2009
End-of-year benefit statistics just released by the Ministry of Social Development show annual increases in every category of benefit,according to welfare commentator Lindsay Mitchell.
"The largest rise is not in the unemployment benefit but in numbers receiving the invalid's benefit, which increased 4.3 percent from 80,082 to 83,501 over 2008. This comes after various of initiatives and ministerial assurances that the numbers were levelling off."
"Numbers on the DPB have risen by 2.2 percent and are now back over 100,000. But especially concerning is the continually increasing numbers of teenage recipients. In December 2007 3,239 18-19 year-olds were receiving the DPB. That number increased by 11 percent to 3,610 in December 2008. Those numbers do not include teenage parents under 18 who receive the EMA. Those figures are not routinely published by the ministry. Teenage recipients present a particular problem because they stay on welfare the longest and their children experience multiple disadvantages."
"Overall the total number of people receiving a main benefit rose six percent over the 2008 year. As well as focussing on minimising job losses the government needs to be looking at ways to discourage uptake of other benefits. While some people end up on a benefit because of factors genuinely beyond their control, many others are there because they made bad choices. The easy availability of assistance plays a role in influencing those choices. "
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5 comments:
The sad fact is if benefits were stopped tomorrow, the economy of Gods own would collapse overnight. The country is dependent on the benefit system to keep local economies operating. In my part of the garden the local supermarket and small pub are totally dependant on benefits for their survival. in fact they subsidise the rest of us so we can have the benefits of those marginal business's.
Dirk
Dirk, Yes. Micro-economies would go - and others would develop. But I have never been in the cold turkey camp. I strongly advocate stopping newcomers unnecessarily entering the system though. A humane and realistic aim.
80,0000 plus on the invalids benefit? Surely this is the sickness benefit Lindsay?
The sickness benefit and the Invalids benefit are two different things.
You have to have a long term illness that you probably wont recover from to be on the Invalids benefit.
The sickness benefit is for those who are sick, but can recover.
No mistake Lucy. 50,896 on sickness.
134,397 on both.
Although that isn't the full total because it excludes those younger than 18.
Invalids\sickness benefit, its how the powers that be have hid the "true" unemployment figure.
The DPB is another way used to disquise the unemployment statistics. The peasants are encouraged to get pregnant so as to help balance the books and justify the thousands employed to assist with dealing with the problem.
Maori and Pacific Island peoples are the easiest to con so as to help create the image of need.
Dirk
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