"Statistics just released from the 2001 Census show that the median income for females is $14,500, " says Lindsay Mitchell, campaigner for a Parliamentary review of the DPB. "This means that 50 percent of females have an income lower than $14,500 and 50 percent have an income higher than this."

"Even a female receiving the lowest DPB rate and the accommodation supplement falls into the higher bracket. This is before adding in other income such as family support and special needs grants. In a typical situation a single parent with two children, receiving the accommodation supplement, will have an annual income of between $16,000 and $17,000."

"The question has to be asked; where is the incentive to find work and become self-supporting? It is no coincidence that the more attractive a benefit rate is, the higher the uptake. It is interesting that our DPB is far more generous than that of Australia and consequently, we have a correspondingly larger number of single parent families," Mrs Mitchell continues.

"Those faced with earning the same or less in paid work, will not stop to consider the other advantages of having a job - future earning prospects, the social contact, and the opportunity to provide their children with a work ethic by example. They will naturally take the easy option."

"Inadvertently then, the government, by trying to make life easier for beneficiaries actually encourages more people to become welfare dependent. The lifting of the DPB work-testing in August will further add to the dependency problem."

"It is high time that a government set to and grappled with this problem of dependency breeding dependency - before it is too late."

Lindsay Mitchell

ph/fx 04 562-7944
e-mail dandl.mitchell@clear.net.nz
petition forms available from P O Box 38-290

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