What's wrong with National's DPB work-testing policy which passed into law last night?
The explicit goal of the Future Focus Bill was to " ...break the cycle of welfare dependency".
On that count it will fail because;
1/ There is nothing to prevent existing beneficiaries adding children to their benefit to avoid work-testing
2/ Six or more years out of the workforce is too long. The longer people stay on a benefit the less likely they are to leave it
3/ There is no disincentive created for teenagers who will view some point 6 or more years into the future as remote
It also falls short in other respects
4/ Many OECD countries faced with the same problem now work-test when children are younger than 6
5/ It implies approval for taxpayers to support sole parents, regardless of their reason for being a sole parent, for long periods of time
6/ Resources will now focus on the most employable who are arguably less in need of them
7/ National can claim to be "doing something". A little akin to fiddling while Rome burns.
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1 comment:
100% right Lindsay
National under Key is just Labour Lite.
He can do the sums: He just has to stay slightly to the right of Labour and he's guaranteed to get re-elected.
Not good for NZ though
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