Welfare reform

To be fair, this article gives a little more detail than a NZ herald article I first read.  I do not oppose welfare reform per se, but I do oppose anything that reduces people to components of an economy, and that fails to acknowledge that nearly all those on welfare have been tax payers who deserve the care and support of the society in which they are a part. It should also acknowledge that most of the invalids and sickness beneficiaries would love to work again. Offering genuine help, rather than stigmatising, as some reports have done is the way ahead.
I acknowledge that there are some people who have come to see their benefit as a right, and who have no aspiration to work for money. That is a problem, But most beneficiaries want to work, and should be treated with dignity and support. We are living through a recession at the moment. There are no jobs. So blaming beneficiaries for not working seems a little churlish at the moment.
The proposals about Solo Mums do worry me. There is an assumption that child care will be affordable, and that it will be available when work is available. Sadly that cannot be guaranteed. So who looks after the children if the work is afterschool or at night? And what are the social conseque3nces of children being left at home alone? Sure, we might save some money now, but how much will we spend later on on the kind of interventions also being talked about, and in social welfare and corrections costs? I am not saying DPB beneficiaries should not work, but it needs to be structured in ways that allow them to remain parents first. That is what it means to be a caring society.
The bottom line is that whatever happens, we need to treat people as people, not as economic units, and work to find ways that actually work, and not just save money. Finally, if there is to be welfare reform, when do we take seriously the views of those receiving the benefits? We need to stop seeing beneficiaries as bludgers, which is the point of view of too many commentators, and see them as people of skill and integrity, that also want the system to work well.

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