More Mistakes From Welfare Ministers
Steve Maharey and Rick Barker, respectively Minister and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment, ought
to sort their stories out, Lindsay Mitchell, petitioner for a Parliamentary review of the DPB said today, after figures
released contradicted earlier information.
"Late last year, Rick Barker told United Future that at the end of August 2004 almost 15,000 people had been on the
unemployment benefit for longer than three years."
"Today, Steve Maharey is saying, ' In just five months between June and November 2004, the number of people unemployed
for more than three years plummeted by 1,400 - the figure now stands at just 7,300.' "
"Both Ministers can't both be right."
"And if you take into account concurrent spells on benefits other than the unemployment, the percentage of long-term
unemployed beneficiaries increases significantly. For instance, whereas at June 2004 12.7 percent of unemployed
beneficiaries had continuously received that benefit for four or more years, the figure almost doubles to 23.5 percent
for those who continuously received any benefit."
"But even more importantly, in today's announcement about extra emphasis on getting beneficiaries into work, the DPB was
neglected completely."
"Yet this is this the benefit that produces the greatest long-term dependency and affects more than just the recipient.
It affects their children as well."
"In September 2004, forty five percent or 49,000 people on the DPB had been on this or other benefits continuously for
four or more years."
"When are we going to get serious about this problem, which is fuelling a great deal of the intergenerational dependency
which, in turn, creates social, health, education and crime problems?"
Lindsay Mitchell petitioner for a Parliamentary review of the DPB forms available from www.liberalvalues.org.nz contact
dandl.mitchell@clear.net.nz
.