The DPB statutory benefit was passed into legislation in 1973, under an incoming Labour government. But it was pushed along by a National MP Lance Adams-Schneider's private member's bill under debate at the time.
That's why I wrote to Leighton Smith today that the DPB was introduced by a National govt.
I should have been clearer. And I should not rely on my memory:-)
Don W picked it up and Leighton didn't have time to read my clarification.
The subject of the DPB was under discussion because of a campaign launched by Auckland Action Against Poverty to have the penalty against sole parents on welfare who refuse to name the father of their child abolished.
If the business of naming the father is genuinely troublesome (the child is the result of rape or incest) Work and Income will not apply the penalty.
However there is also a dodge that goes on which the bureaucracy tries to discourage.
Current law requires the naming of fathers in order to collect Child Support from him. By not naming the father, the mother colludes to help him avoid paying Child Support which, if she is on welfare, is kept by the state to offset the benefit cost. In return the father agrees to pay her a lesser sum than Child Support but higher than the penalty. So both win.
Of course AAAP wouldn't have a problem with this. They are happy for the 'downtrodden' of any hue to rip off the 'neoliberal' welfare system.
Do they comprehend that these sorts of campaigns actually hurt the poor by hardening voter attitudes?
10 comments:
Thanks for clearing that up Lindsay
Cheers Don W
I hate to tell you this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZypreTKxj3o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a8XddPXV5o
But yo Momma a Hoe.
Well, I didn't think I had to articulate the fact that some mothers don't know who the father is....in the same way that some men don't know who they have fathered children with or how many. And my own youth is nothing to write home about lest I sound like a moralising old biddy.
Do they comprehend that these sorts of campaigns actually hurt the poor by hardening voter attitudes?
well any such "hardening:" is clearly a good thing.
Whether its 43 years of the DPB or 118 years of the Welfare State as a whole, both have been unmitigated disasters and massive moral hazards. The sooner the whole lot is abolished, the better.
And my own youth is nothing to write home about
The only relevant question, Lindsay, is whether your youth was at the expense of yourself, your family, and your partner and their family --- or, well, me and the vanishingly few other nett taxpayers in New Zealand!
Someone on ZB tried to tell Larry that the reason some women wouldn't say who the father was, was because the father threatened them and they stayed silent because of that intimidation. That because of the hard attitude children would be without shoes and go hungry etc etc.
That is also entirely believable. Gang fathers are apparently quite keen to leave a line behind them.
And no anon, my youth did not rely on the taxpayer. I pretty much worked full-time after leaving school.
not forgetting that any man named as a father has no legal defence...i.e no right to DNA proof.
"not forgetting that any man named as a father has no legal defence...i.e no right to DNA proof"
The only way someone named as a father would not get to argue the case he is not the father would be if he doesn't show up to court after he is given appropriate notice. If this occurs the court will likely deem the man in question to be the father.
This is the advice from Citizens Advice Bureau:
"How does the Court determine the paternity of a child?
The Court will consider:
the history of the mother’s relationship with the alleged father
the likely date of conception
whether or not the mother had other sexual partners around the time of the baby’s conception
whether the alleged father admits to having had sex with the mother
DNA testing
To help establish paternity, the Court might order parentage (paternity) tests.
What is a parentage test?
Parentage (or paternity) tests can involve taking DNA samples from inside the mouth or blood samples, from the man, the child, and the child’s mother. The DNA collected from the samples will be compared to see whether there is a match.
Both the mother and the alleged father have the right to request a parentage test, and DNA testing is available from medical laboratories around the country. It can cost around a thousand dollars.
If a parentage test has been ordered by the Court, then usually the costs of DNA testing are shared between the mother and the alleged father. If paternity is established, the mother can get her lawyer to argue for the full cost to be paid by the father."
http://www.cab.org.nz/vat/fp/c/pages/paternity.aspx
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