I am writing this in support of the extra assistance and social services available in New Zealand. I am writing as someone who has directly benefitted from the social welfare services available in this country, to the point that I hold down a full time job – something I could not immediately do when I finished high school. I write it as someone with friends who are reliant social welfare support, and whom I have seen demonstrably grow as contributing members of N.Z. society.
The Ministry of Social Development comes in for a lot of criticism from all parts of the political spectrum. A significant portion of it is deserved commentary stemming from Ministry staff either not knowing the full rights of their clients or from misunderstandings about client needs. Criticism also comes from politicians with little or no understanding about how the social welfare system works and why we as a first world nation need to view the welfare system as an investment in our socio-economic wellbeing. Far too many people fail to stop and consider the reasons one might be in need of welfare support before commenting.
I myself do see some significant problems with it. However I believe that these problems can be fixed and that when they are, we will have one of the better fit for purpose social welfare systems in the developed world. The problem is that it will require investment that many politicians under the influence of lobbyist actors, are loathe to support being enabled by Parliament. Other countries who have made the kind of investment that New Zealand needs to include Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway – all of which have correspondingly better socio-economic indicators.
So, what are the major problems that I see?
- First and foremost, we need to change how we income sources – it is difficult to overestimate the importance of reforming the income tax brackets
- Second, we need to look at the inefficient manner in which the Department of Work and Income dispenses weekly entitlements – this in itself is likely to save tens of millions of dollars
- Third, the amounts paid in weekly benefits have not kept up with inflation and probably need to increase by between 25-33%, which can then by maintained by requiring they adjust annually on 01 April to inflation
- A culture change inside M.S.D. needs to happen to regain the confidence of the clientele, many of whom – myself included – can point to times when attending meetings with our case manager, we were viewed almost like suspects
In 2000, after finishing High School, I enrolled at Hagley Community College. Back then my G.P. thought because of my blood pressure I could not work full time and should only do something that involved several hours a week of work. Thus I applied for a Disability Benefit. The combination of holding down a 12 hour per week job and having the benefit that I was on, enabled me to go through a Bachelor of Science undergraduate degree in 3 1/2 years. It enabled me to pay off all of my student fees when they were due and not have to apply for a student loan. From February 2005 to the end of 2006 I worked on a Postgraduate Diploma of Science also at University of Canterbury, which was also paid for in full and on time each year.
From 2011, after four years holding down full time work, I had to apply for income assistance after my job ended in the Christchurch earthquake. I decided in a city with not much in the way of jobs going to retrain and did a business administration course that was funded by a study allowance – which actually provided me less money per week than the unemployment benefit.
I hold a Postgraduate Diploma of Environmental Resource Planning that was made financially possible by the minimum wage rises made possible by the Government of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Like many others in the wake of COVID19, I have had to reduce the hours I work and my employer was able to qualify for the work subsidy. Without that I would probably have had to drop the Diploma. Without the support I got from the New Zealand welfare system along the way, I would not have achieved nearly half of what I have managed to in my life. The same goes for a number of friends, who have benefited from the developmental assistance, and are now able to hold down jobs because of it. So before you call for the dismantling of the welfare system in the course of a political debate in the coming weeks, just remember that the purpose of it it is not to give “the lazy”, “the druggies”, and such an easy ride. A few will try to do that, but the vast majority are honest people.
Leftist Kiwi Writes 