benefits

Categories under benefits

welfare (366)

Re-run: Benefits, wages and anger

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 8:28 am, December 29th, 2009 - 46 comments

The recent furore about benefit levels has brought a lot of comments along the lines of “I don’t get it why should they?” out of the woodwork along with a lot of hardluck stories from low wage earners such as this one from Phoenix on Colin Espiner’s blog: I am 6 months pregnant with my […]

Looking tough, wasting money

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:06 am, December 23rd, 2009 - 57 comments

So Paula Bennett wants to force people on the dole to reapply after a year. At best, it’s a waste of money by adding more bureaucracy. At worst, it will leave people who are already in poverty destitute for weeks. You can lose your dole already if you don’t meet the conditions. In particular, if […]

Bennett disappointed by witch-hunt results

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 11:23 am, December 22nd, 2009 - 23 comments

Earlier this year, Paula Bennett released the personal details of two women who get the DPB who had opposed her cancelling of a grant designed to get people off the benefit. As far as I’m aware, the Privacy Commissioner still hasn’t published her opinion on Bennett’s bully tactics but it looks like Bennett has got the […]

Guaranteed minimum income + capital tax, the way forward?

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 9:19 am, December 2nd, 2009 - 49 comments

Occasionally something in politics really surprises you. Like when I turned over to Campbell Live last night (I’d seen the Family Guy episode too often) and there was Gareth Morgan proposing a guaranteed minimum income funded by a comprehensive capital tax. Guaranteed minimum income/negative income tax is hardly a new idea (I’ve been meaning to […]

Nats’ dismal record on jobs and benefits

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 1:28 pm, November 29th, 2009 - 20 comments

In opposition, National claimed that Labour wasn’t really getting people off benefits, it was just moving them from unemployment benefit and ‘hiding’ them on the sickness and invalid’s benefits – Paula Bennett repeated the claim just this week in the House. But the facts prove otherwise. When Labour was in power, there was small […]

Bludging farmers

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 3:51 pm, November 19th, 2009 - 55 comments

The Fed Farmers have used Goff’s speech on monetary policy to have another whinge about beneficiaries, who they reckon are somehow to blame for the high dollar that’s crippling our exporters. Weird, I know, but then that’s the Feds for you. The dogwhistle term they’re using is ‘government spending’, but thanks to a recent admission […]

English’s strange priorities

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 10:49 am, November 2nd, 2009 - 51 comments

Talk about bereft of ideas, the currency is yo-yoing, the housing bubble is re-inflating, wages are falling, jobs are still being lost in large numbers, the oil price is back above $80 but what’s the Finance Minister Bill English spending his time on? Some good old-fashioned beneficiary bashing. English announced there will be new measures […]

Paula, honestly, put away the champagne

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 1:20 pm, October 12th, 2009 - 2 comments

So, in the week to October 2, 1950 people signed up to the dole and 2040 went off it. Time to celebrate according to Paula Bennett – unemployment’s going down! But one thing we know about Bennett is she doesn’t have a good grasp of detail – in fact, she has to have everything reduced […]

DPB: it’s for the kids

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:30 am, August 18th, 2009 - 40 comments

A lot of right-wing beliefs can be traced back to a few core values. Two apply to the DPB debate: a penny-pinching self-centredness a moral viewpoint that good people prosper thanks to hard work and, therefore, anyone who isn’t prosperous is the author of their own demise, which makes them undeserving of help. They object […]

Breeding for a business

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 9:00 am, August 18th, 2009 - 29 comments

In 2002, John Key (then a free-speaking backbencher) told the Sunday-Star Times: “We’ve seen enormous growth in the number of people on the DPB, and where people have been, for want of a better term, breeding for a business” Of course, it wasn’t true that DPB numbers were growing – they’re down 16% over the last […]

Let the bashing begin

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 7:45 am, August 17th, 2009 - 61 comments

I see Paula Bennett has been busy dog-whistling on beneficiaries, firstly by releasing figures showing 307 beneficiaries receive more than $1000 a week and then by claiming she “suspects” special needs grants are being abused. Given the hatefest her potentially unlawful release of Natasha Fuller and Jennifer Johnson’s income details caused last time there’s no […]

Of witch hunts and solo mums

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 11:42 am, August 8th, 2009 - 62 comments

Frank Macskasy The recent witch-hunt against solo-mums would have done the old Salem village-elders proud. The fires, though, could have been stoked just a bit harder and higher. But as a first attempt at demonising a minority in our community, it wasn’t a bad effort for Minister of Social Services, Paula Bennett. When Bennett ordered […]

It’s not fair, get over it, get it right

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 10:40 am, July 22nd, 2009 - 83 comments

The ludicrous attacks by the media on Goff over the dole scheme show that this is not an even playing field. Key is allowed to lie again and again. Ministers are allowed to shirk their responsibilities. The fact that 1300 more people on the dole each week barely gets a look in. The journos are […]

Plenty of pixie dust for the cycleway

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:11 pm, July 21st, 2009 - 39 comments

John Key says there are “no pixies printing cash” to help Kiwis who’ve lost their jobs under his government’s watch. Funny, because there’s plenty of pixie dust for Key’s cycleway. Pixie dust is in no short supply to subsidise Key’s rich mates who want to send their kids to elitist private schools. And there’s buckets […]

Good jab, now land some punches

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 5:04 am, July 21st, 2009 - 88 comments

It was excellent to see Phil Goff laying down the gauntlet to Key yesterday. He announced Labour’s policy to temporarily relax partner means testing for the dole and promised a recession response package. On the same day, Key’s big achievement was noting the Hillary family had settled their dispute with Auckland museum. Goff is saying […]

Recession’s ‘rough edges’ hit families – no help from govt

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 4:20 pm, July 20th, 2009 - 48 comments

Labour leader Phil Goff has called for a temporary relaxation of the rules for getting the dole. Too many Kiwis on low and middle incomes are losing their jobs but are not able to get any assistance from the Government (despite having paid taxes for years) because their partner has a modest income. John Key […]

Out of her depth

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 1:20 pm, July 1st, 2009 - 13 comments

I wonder if Patrick Gower could keep a straight face while writing this: Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has dropped her additional Disability Issues portfolio because Prime Minister John Key wants her to concentrate on the growing numbers of people losing their jobs. Note his phrasing. Not ‘concentrate on reducing the growing number of people […]

McJobs

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:13 am, June 25th, 2009 - 83 comments

John Key, 20 May 2007: My legacy will be a strong New Zealand economy with higher wages, lower taxes and greater competitiveness. My legacy will be a country that young New Zealanders want to stay and work in. The Press, 25 June 2009: Thousands of beneficiaries could soon be flipping burgers under a deal between […]

Pulling up the ladder behind her

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 12:00 pm, June 19th, 2009 - 115 comments

Paula Bennett’s image as a Westie solo mum who’s been on the DPB has been an important part of National’s centrist branding. By putting her in charge of the Ministry of Social Development, despite any relevant experience or discernable talent, National gave a clear signal that in their government image would trump substance. Fair enough […]

No super contributions = worse net debt

Written By: Marty G - Date published: 7:08 pm, May 28th, 2009 - 114 comments

I’ve had a dig into Treasury’s numbers and worked out that they expect the Superannuation Fund will make a 13% return next year, falling to 11% a year by 2012. Those figures seem pretty good, not too optimistic. It’s what the Fund made in ordinary years before the crunch and bear in mind the Fund […]

Out of her depth II

Written By: Tane - Date published: 12:45 pm, April 15th, 2009 - 29 comments

As if any more evidence was needed that National’s Paula Bennett is completely out of her depth as Minister of Social Development, it appears Work and Income is turning away the hungry while Paula can’t even get her lines straight: Despite a high court ruling in 2002 instructing WINZ to tell beneficiaries what their entitlements […]

Centre for Inaccurate Studies

Written By: all_your_base - Date published: 9:35 am, April 2nd, 2009 - 35 comments

The CIS released a report [PDF link] today entitled Ending No. 8 Wire Welfare: Why New Zealand is Lagging Behind. Its author is Luke Malpass. Predictably, from the right-wing think tank, the paper is an ideologically driven argument for a more punitive welfare system. As is so often the case, it’s premised on the tired […]

What’s Bill planning?

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 9:20 am, February 26th, 2009 - 10 comments

Yesterday, Finance Minister Bill English made a big deal over the loss the New Zealand Superannuation Fund incurred last year. When you don’t need the money for twenty years, the current value of your asset is irrelevant. When there’s a boom on the paper value of what you have will skyrocket, when there’s a bust […]

Don’t kill the Cullen Fund

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 9:45 am, February 24th, 2009 - 46 comments

Michael Littlewood has made a career of advocating superannuation privatisation and is part of an international organisation called Pension Reforms dedicated to the privatisation of superannuation. Yesterday, he was given a platform in the Herald and on the news (one or three, can’t remember), to argue the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (known as the Cullen […]

In for a penny

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 3:15 pm, February 8th, 2009 - 44 comments

Key’s old arm cast has sold for $18,500 on Trademe. The money will go to the Fred Hollows Foundation to help blind people in the Solomon Islands. Great, a fair old dollop of money raised for a worthy cause. But let’s not stop there. A large number of people bid large amounts for two things of […]

Bludgin’ ain’t so easy

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 2:30 pm, December 18th, 2008 - 47 comments

So, I’m out of work. I was employed on a contract and when it came up for renewal the boss told me business is too tight, have to let me go. It wasn’t their fault and they were pretty good about it. For the first few weeks I just looked for work but there’s not […]

In praise of the welfare state

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 11:36 am, November 21st, 2008 - 48 comments

It’s very easy in our individualist, consumerist, capitalist society to say ‘if you’re poor, it’s your fault, don’t come looking to the rest of us for help’ – ‘it’s your fault for marrying an alcoholic, don’t expect us to pay to house your family’, ‘it’s your fault you got pregnant when you couldn’t afford to […]

How to stimulate the economy

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 12:00 pm, November 11th, 2008 - 9 comments

During the debate over the economic stimulus package in the US earlier this year, Moody’s produced a model that shows which stimulus options result in the most increase in GDP per dollar of government spending/tax reduction. I’ve highlighted the three options that are relevant to NZ (the Bush tax cuts are remarkably similar to the […]

Tories’ crack at socialism a poor substitute

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 1:39 pm, October 31st, 2008 - 5 comments

National’s redundancy package would effectively continue Working for Families payments for some people who would otherwise lose them after redunancy. Only people who have been in the same job for six months would get it, cutting out labourers, temps, and contract workers. For about the same cost, it would deliver more money to fewer people […]

More redundancy protection

Written By: Tane - Date published: 4:01 pm, October 30th, 2008 - 78 comments

It’s good to see Labour turning its focus back onto policy (and particularly the economy) today with its announcement of a “job search allowance” for people made redundant in the coming economic downturn. Basically, the allowance means if you lose your job you’ll be eligible for the dole without means-testing for up to 13 weeks. […]

Make-work don’t work

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 2:15 pm, October 15th, 2008 - 24 comments

The Maori Party wants the dole abolished to be replaced by work schemes. It’s a bad idea but it’s not too far from being a good one. Make work schemes are bad in several ways. They distort the market for low-skill work. The State with an army of cheap, semi-involuntary labour ends up undercutting the […]