Who counts jobs gained?

Job losses get headlines.

That’s justified by the impact not just on those directly affected but by the wider community and economy.

But who counts jobs gained by those who lost them?

Those who go on benefits or immigrate will eventually turn up in welfare and immigration figures.

But who counts the people who find work either for other employers or in their own businesses?

The creation of a large number of new jobs by, for example, the opening of a new milk processing plant, will be reported, but smaller job gains aren’t usually.

In a column discussing how subsidised jobs make everyone poorer, Rodney Hide writes:

. . . If Tiwai closed, the job losses will be obvious and reportable. The jobs and income generated through the extra and cheaper power won’t be. But they will be there. And we will all be better off as a consequence.

The only difficulty is that these jobs won’t be spotted and will go unreported. We don’t know where they are. And we can’t point to them. That’s why the jobs argument – bad as it is – has propaganda value. . .

There have been lots of stories about job losses recently, there have been few about jobs created.

But benefit numbers have fallen to the lowest level since 2009 .

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says there are 29,000 fewer New Zealanders receiving benefits since the last quarter.

This is the lowest benefit numbers have been at this time of year since 2009.

“I’m really pleased to see this significant reduction in benefits and I take my hat off to the more than 17,600 people who went off the Unemployment, DPB and Sickness Benefits and into work in the last quarter.”

The Ministry of Social Development cancelled 525 benefits in the last quarter after it implemented an enhanced information sharing arrangement with Inland Revenue. . .

If benefit numbers have dropped in spite of all the reported job losses, new jobs must also have been created.

n spite of all those jobs lost, there must have also been jobs created.

Helping people help themselves

Welfare reforms developed by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett passed into law yesterday.

“The changes we’re introducing will modernise and simplify the welfare system,” Mrs Bennett said.

“They will also ensure work expectations and social obligations are balanced with the right incentives and support.” . .

“The legislation also introduces new social obligations to ensure children in benefit-dependent homes get quality Early Childhood Education, are enrolled with a doctor, get their Well Child checks and are in school if they are school-age,” Mrs Bennett said.

The law will also require Jobseekers to be drug-free, and will allow benefits to be stopped for outstanding arrest warrants.

“Over 40 per cent of jobs advertised with Work and Income require a drug test. It is simply unacceptable that many are unable to work and take up available job opportunities because of recreational drug use.”

An actuarial valuation based on the expected durations of all current beneficiaries shows the lifetime costs to be $78 billion.

The investment approach will target interventions and support to those most at risk of long-term welfare dependence.

“By investing in people sooner, we can actually start to break that cycle of dependence.”

“Jobseeker Support will include those capable of work and those who are temporarily exempt, but will soon be able to work,” says Mrs Bennett.

This includes those currently on the Sickness Benefit, who according to work capability, will have a part-time or full-time work expectation or a temporary exemption until they are work-ready.

People currently receiving Women Alone or Widows Benefit will retain their higher rate of benefit when they transfer to Jobseeker Support and along with those on the DPB, they’ll also retain current part-time benefit abatement rules.

“Benefit rates will remain unchanged and there will be extra support for those who want to work but need more help to get them ready,” says Mrs Bennett.

The current annual reapplication for the Unemployment Benefit will apply to all those on the new Jobseeker benefit.

The opposition thinks these reforms are beneficiary bashing.

On the contrary they are designed to ensure those in genuine need get the assistance they require and help those who could support themselves to become independent.

As it was, the welfare system trapped people on benefits and didn’t provide support some people need to be able and willing to work.

That came at a very high cost for those on long term benefits and those of us who pay for them.

Helping people into work improves their long term prospects and decreases the long term costs of welfare.

April 9 in history

32 Jesus Christ ascended into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday.

193 Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum.

475 Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issued a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysite christological position.

1241  Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeated the Polish and German armies.

1413  Henry V was crowned King of England.

1440 Christopher of Bavaria was appointed King of Denmark.

1682 Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovered the mouth of the Mississippi River, claimed it for France and namesdit Louisiana.

1860 The oldest audible sound recording of a human voice was made.

1865 American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.

1865 Birth of Charles Proteus Steinmetz, German-American mathematician and electrical engineer (d. 1923).

1867 Chris Watson, third Prime Minister of Australia, was born (d. 1941).

1867  Alaska purchase: Passing by a single vote, the United States Senate ratified a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska.

1898 Paul Robeson, American singer and activist, was born  (d. 1976).

1909 The U.S. Congress passed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act.

1916  World War I: The Battle of Verdun – German forces launched their third offensive of the battle.

1917 World War I: The Battle of Arras  started with Canadian Corps executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.

1918 World War I: The Battle of the Lys – the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps was crushed by the German forces during the Spring Offensive on the Belgian region of Flanders.

1926 Hugh Hefner, American entrepreneur and publisher, was born.

1932 Unemployed workers in Dunedin reacted angrily to the refusal of the Hospital Board to offer assistance, protesters stoned the mayor’s relief depot and tried to storm the Hospital Board’s offices, before being dispersed by police batons.

1934 – Bill Birch, New Zealand politician, was born.

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1937 The Kamikaze arrived at Croydon Airport – the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.

1939 Marian Anderson sang at the Lincoln Memorial, after being denied the right to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall.

1940 World War II: Germany invadesd Denmark and Norway.

1942 World War II: The Battle of Bataan/Bataan Death March – United States forces surrendered on the Bataan Peninsula. The Japanese Navy launched an air raid on Trincomalee; Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy Destroyer HMAS Vampire were sunk off the island’s east coast.

1945 World War II: The German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer was sunk.

1945 – World War II: The Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ended.

1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission was formed.

1947 The Glazier-Higgins-Woodward tornadoes killed 181 and injured970 in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

1947 – The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride  started through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court’s 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.

1948 Jorge Eliécer Gaitán’s assassination provoked a violent riot (El Bogotazo) in Bogotá, and a further ten years of violence in Colombia known as La violencia.

1948 – Massacre at Deir Yassin.

1952 Hugo Ballivian’s government was overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution, starting a period of agrarian reform, universal suffrage and the nationalisation of tin mines.

1957 The Suez Canal in Egypt was cleared and opened to shipping.

1959 Mercury program: NASA announced the selection of the United States’ first seven astronauts,-  the “Mercury Seven“.

1965 Astrodome opened and the first indoor baseball game was played.

1967 The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) made its maiden flight.

1968 Martin Luther King Jr’s funeral.

1969 – Paula Bennett, National Party Cabinet Minister and Waitakere MP, was born.

1969 The “Chicago Eight” pled not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

1969 The first British-built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford.

1975 The first game of the Philippine Basketball Association, the second oldest professional basketball league in the world.

1978  Rachel Stevens, English singer (S Club), was born.

1989  The April 9 tragedy in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR an anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strikes, demanding restoration of Georgian independence was dispersed by the Soviet army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.

1991 Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

1992 A U.S. Federal Court found former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

1992 John Major‘s Conservative Party won an unprecedented fourth general election victory.

1999  Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, President of Niger, was assassinated.

2002 The funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother at Westminster Abbey.

2003 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad fell to American forces.

2005 Charles, Prince of Wales married Camilla Parker Bowles.

2009 In Tbilisi, Georgia, up to 60,000 people protested against the government of Mikheil Saakashvili.

2011 – A gunman murdered five people, injured eleven, and committed suicide in a mall in the Netherlands.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Dodgy numbers

Last week Social Development Minister Paula Bennett issued media releases which said the future focus was helping to reduce the number of people on benefits and benefit figures were under forecast.

Yesterday the Herald on Sunday featured Labour’s Jacinda Ardern saying more people were on benefits.

So who’s right?

Kiwiblog has the figures:

Let’s look at the actual data, in terms of increase or decrease each year. For DPB they are

• 2008 +2,128
• 2009 +9,007
• 2010 +3,576
• 2011 +1,365
• 2012 -5,112

I think we now understand why Jacinda left the 2012 figures off. What I don’t know if why the Herald on Sunday did.

Let’s do the same with Invalid’s Benefit numbers.

• 2008 +3,419
• 2009 +1,537
• 2010 +67
• 2011 -1,062
• 2012 -472

And for those interested in the Unemployment Benefit.

• 2008 +7,760
• 2009 +35,820
• 2010 +756
• 2011 -7,120
• 2012 -6,217

They all show the same thing. The increase in benefit numbers started in 2008 (under Labour) and worsened in 2009 as the Global Financial Crisis struck.  Despite patchy economic growth since 2009, benefit numbers in all three categories have fallen in the last two years.

And Lindsay Mitchell provides more analysis which shows Ardern is wrong.

Opposition MPs are supposed to show up government failings but it’s not at all clever to use dodgy stats to do it.

Reporters are supposed to check facts and provide balance, the one who wrote this story failed on both counts.

Scarce resources can’t be scattered

The  Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group’s report “Solutions to Child Poverty” has led to inevitable calls for more welfare, but as Finance and Social development Ministers Bill English and Paula Bennett say, it’s not that simple.

 “The Government acknowledges that many families are finding times challenging, and I thank the group for its report, which feeds into a great deal of work that is already underway,” Mr English says.

 “This Government is tackling some difficult and complex issues including welfare reform and the White Paper on Vulnerable Children, while spending billions of dollars  to support those in most need.” 

Mrs Bennett says the Government welcomes  ideas and some of the report’s recommendations may get taken up  while some others have already been addressed. 

“For example, there is merit in the suggestion of community hubs and a warrant of fitness for homes. Meanwhile, we’re already ensuring beneficiary teen parents are in education.”

However, the Government would not support universal child payments.

“It is those on the lowest-incomes who are in the greatest need so any new spending needs to be tightly targeted,” she says.

Mr English said net core Crown debt had risen from $10 billion four years ago to more than $50 billion today and, in difficult financial times, the public expected policies to be costed and evidence-based.

“New programmes are worth funding only if they change people’s lives for the better.

“Too often, governments have, for political reasons, persisted with programmes that have been ineffective and expensive.

“But if the answer was simply to throw more money at the problem, it would have been solved years ago,” he says.

There’s never a good time to scatter money and now, when the government is already borrowing so much it’s an even worse time.

Limited resources must be directed where they will do most good.

The Government’s consistent approach has been to encourage people off welfare into work, while protecting vulnerable children, maintaining support for low-income households and strengthening the economy.

The Government has ensured more families have warmer, drier homes, better access to health services, better protection from abuse, and greater support to help people off welfare into work.

All state houses will be insulated by the end of 2013 and the $347 million Heat Smart scheme has already insulated 190,000 homes since 2009.

The $24 million Rheumatic Fever programme has targeted 44,000 children in the worst affected areas and funding for free doctor’s visits for under six year olds has gone up by 50 percent over three years.

The White Paper for Vulnerable Children contains more than 30 measures. Welfare reforms include extra childcare to help young parents remain in education, along with social obligations to ensure children get the education and health care they need. 

“We know children are better off in homes where at least one adult is working and long term, children who get the education and skills which lead to good jobs stand the best chance of breaking inter-generational hardship,” Mrs Bennett says.   

This is about not only helping families now but breaking the poverty cycle by equipping the children for work in the future.

It’s also about changing expectations.

Some people will never be able to be independent and a compassionate society must look after them. But those who can look after themselves must be encouraged to, for their own sakes, that of their children and the social and economic welfare of the country.

That didn’t last long

Yesterday John Tamihere said he was going to behave.

Today, the RadioLive host pledged to behave.

Mr Tamihere said he can’t take back what he said in 2005 but he has no intention of repeating it in the future.

He hasn’t repeated those comments but  less than 24 hours later:

John Tamihere is back. And it seems nothing has changed. This time he’s calling one of National’s women MPs “fat”.

The former MP who in 2005 suffered a calamitous fall from grace has been allowed to become a member of the Labour Party once more.

But he’s vowing not to tone down his opinions or toe the party line. As if to prove his point, in an interview over a beer in a Henderson restaurant yesterday, Tamihere says he intends to be as outspoken as ever.

“People have got to get over themselves. There are some really fragile, brittle people in the Labour Party. When you give them a bit of a rev-up they get broken and bitter and twisted and hold it ’til the day they die.” . . .

He’s right about the fragility and brittleness of some in his party, but only when the insults are aimed at ones they consider their own, which this wasn’t:

. . .So, in the immortal words of fellow Westie MP Paula Bennett, we ask whether his return to politics will force him to “zip it sweetie”.

Tamihere laughs a big belly laugh. “Not for that bloody fat girl up here, I’m going to tell you that right now.” . . .

Had he referred to one of them as a fat girl there would have been objections to both the adjective and the noun.

There is very unlikely to be a response since it was aimed at a National MP.

Nor will you find National men condescendingly rushing to her defence as Trevor Mallard did to Jacinda Ardern last week.

In National men accept women as equals and don’t need blokes blundering in when they are perfectly capable of sticking up for themselves.

 

 

Precious only when it suits

Was it the influence of The Hobbit’s my precious that prompted Trevor Mallard to pretend preciousness over a perceived slight to Jacinda Ardern during Question Time yesterday?

Hon PAULA BENNETT: Actually, Limited Service Volunteer is making a difference, and we have seen the numbers—[Interruption] Well, if you want to listen to the answer, then just zip it, sweetie, I am getting there. So what it is is that actually what you have got is you have got a number of people who do fall out in the first few—

Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think you heard what the Minister said.

Mr SPEAKER: I certainly did not hear what the Minister said, because the noise level was too high.

Hon Trevor Mallard: Well, we could hear it on this side, and I suggest that if you had listened you could have heard it. It was exceptionally offensive. [Interruption] . . .

It wasn’t the zip it but the sweetie to which he objected:

. . . Hon Trevor Mallard: No, no, no—she said “zip it, sweetie”. That’s what she said. [Interruption] . . .

. . . Mr Speaker, if that term was used to a member who was not a younger woman member—in that sort of approach—I think you would find it offensive. We certainly found it offensive here, and I ask you whether that term is something that is appropriate. “Zip it” might have been all right but—

Whatever it was Speaker Lockwood Smith took a far more sensible view:

Mr SPEAKER: Order! Look, there is a myth that there are certain terms that are ruled out in this House. It is a myth—there are none. Members should treat this place, this House, with respect and members should treat each other with courtesy. If members interject in a rude manner, they may get a less than perfect reaction from the Minister. The level of interjection was so high that I did not hear what the Minister had said. I accept my hearing is less than ideal. I fully accept that, and I apologise for it. But I believe that if we allow ourselves to get worked up over that, we are just being unnecessarily petty. The solution is simple: do not interject so much. It was not necessary. The member had asked a question and should be interested in the answer. It was difficult to hear the answer, so the Minister felt provoked and said something that was less than ideal, but under the circumstances I am not going to ask the Minister to withdraw and apologise for it.

Quite why sweetie is offensive escapes me but Mallard’s preciousness over this perceived slight contrasts sharply with what could be regarded as far more offensive behaviour at Labour’s conference which appears not to have raised any concern at all from him or his colleagues.

Equal Opportunities Commissioner, Judy McGregor, said:

“We produced sexy, big print bumper stickers which said A king for Miramar and Miramar needs a King. Annette was far too nice to let us use Miramar needs a King not a queen . . .

Keeping Stock asks, is it appropriate from someone whose work requires her to protect and promote equal opportunity?

. . . We accept that Dr McGregor’s comment was intended to be a joke. But so was John Key’s banter about Farming Show hot Jamie Mackay’s “gay red shirt”, and look at the furore over that. . .

If sweetie ranks as offensive on Labour’s preciousness meter and gay red shirt also provoked outrage then McGregor’s homophobic reference would be off the scale – if it came from the right.

But it came from the left and somehow slights, in jest or not, from the proponents of identity politics, don’t register at all.

Perhaps that’s because they’re precious only when it suits.

Who cares when the carers don’t?

The White Paper on Vulnerable children launched by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett yesterday contains more than 30 proposed initiatives to target the 20 to 30,000 children in need.

Proposals include:

• New legislation to make Chief Executives of Social Development, Health, Justice, Police, Housing and Te Puni Kokiri jointly accountable for achieving results for all vulnerable children.
• Regional Directors & Children’s Teams to coordinate individualised responses locally.
• New Child Protect line to triage calls appropriately. Many people are concerned about children but don’t want to call Child, Youth and Family. This new line will be the first point of contact and ensure the right response.
• Vulnerable Kid’s Information System to be put in place.
• Comprehensive risk predictor tool to be developed alongside Auckland University to identify vulnerable children before they are abused and get them the help they need.
• Ongoing support to families who take in a child to be provided by non-government organisations.
• More specialist trained caregivers for high-needs and high-risk teens.
• Review of Child, Youth and Family complaints process and parental leave provisions, with a view to extending these to families who take on a child permanently.
• Screening of people working directly with children to be established through a legislated vetting process and we will encourage social workers to register with the Social Workers Registration Board.
• Tough new restrictions for abusers through child abuse prevention orders to allow judges to stop child abusers from gaining access to children.
• Child protection orders could mean that another baby born into a potentially abusive environment is removed from that parent’s care. 

State intrusion in the lives of its citizens requires caution and safeguards.

But when the people who should be caring for their children don’t, the right of the children to protection trumps that of the carers’ right to privacy and autonomy.

78.1b reasons for welfare reform

The welfare system costs $78.1 billion over the working lifetime of beneficiaries.

The valuation report, which cost the Government $800,000 to  prepare, is the first of its type in the world and designed as a measuring stick  for the likely cost of the welfare system.

The figure is based on the number of beneficiaries in the  system in 2011 but uses 20 years of data to map their behaviour.

Using figures from this year, the cost is 10 percent higher  at $84.9 billion.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the report  shows the huge cost of beneficiaries and emphasises the importance in changing  the path of youth welfare dependency. . .

The break down of costs is:

• Benefit:      $17.8 billion
• Invalids      Benefit: $19.1 billion
• Accommodation      Supplement: $10.2 billion
• Sickness      Benefit: $7.2 billion
• MSD      Expenses: $6.8 billion
• Woman      alone/widow’s benefit/Orphan’s benefit/unsupported child/DPB       carer/emergency benefit: $5.1 billion
• Unemployment      benefit: $4 billion
• Recoverable      hardship assistance/net loan cost: $4 billion
• Disability      allowance/child disability allowance/childcare subsidy: $3.4  billion
• Loans:      $0.4 billion
• Total:      $78.1 billion (as of March 2011) but $84.9 billion using June  2012      figures. The total figure does not include costs associated with  welfare      like family court costs.

Ms Bennett says taxpayers spend $22 million a day on the  welfare system and this needs to be reduced.

The report is intended to help the Ministry of Social  Development focus on the most important areas, especially long-term welfare  dependency. . .

Some people will need welfare permanently because they will never be able to support themselves.

Most people require only temporary support.

The problem area is those whose need is temporary but whose dependence becomes permanent.

The shorter the time people who could support themselves are in receipt of a benefit the better it is for them, society and the economy.

For the sake of the children

Long term welfare dependency isn’t good for the recipients, their dependants, taxpayers or society.

Nor is giving people money without expecting something in return.

For too long people have been able to claim benefits with no social obligations in return. That is about to change.

Incorporating important health and wellbeing goals into welfare reform will help ensure children get the best possible start in life says Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.

“Social obligations will ensure dependent children of beneficiaries access and benefit from vital education and health services,” says Mrs Bennett.

“These services are particularly important for vulnerable children as many currently miss out; we have an opportunity to address this through reforms.”

“These obligations are reasonable and achievable and they reflect the expectations most New Zealanders have of parents, this is a positive move for vulnerable families.”

Around 125,000 beneficiary parents support more than 220,000 children.

Social obligations require all beneficiary parents to ensure their children:

• attend 15 hours a week Early Childhood Education (ECE) from age 3
• attend school from age five or six
• enrol with a General Practitioner
• complete core WellChild/Tamariki Ora checks

This is not a punitive attack on parents, it’s a proactive move for the sake of children who are not receiving the care and services they need.

. . . “We are mindful there may be barriers like geographical location or capacity so parents will need to make reasonable steps to achieve these goals.”

Our intention is to work with and support parents to comply in the best interests of children and if they struggle to comply for any reason they could be referred to specific support services to get further help.

“But where barriers do not exist and parents don’t meet these obligations, graduated sanctions could apply,” says Mrs Bennett.

The graduated sanction process will see parents receive three reminder opportunities to comply before a maximum 50 per cent financial sanction applies.

“We have made it easy to re-comply, with plenty of opportunities and in the interests of the child, have capped the sanction at 50 percent.”

No-one will lose a benefit automatically, a lot of effort will go in to ensuring people do what is required of them for the sake of their children.

Parents may receive a higher level of case management support at any stage in the process if they are considered to be high risk, have complex needs or a level of vulnerability that requires additional support.

These social obligations will come into effect in July 2013 and cost around $1.4 million a year to administrate.

The first few years of life are important. Children who start school behind their peers are at a disadvantage which can dog them for the rest of their lives.

Critics of the policy ask why all parents aren’t to be faced with the same obligations.

It’s a fair question when at least some might be getting taxpayer support through in work tax credits.

But the policy is aimed at those who need it most because children of beneficiaries do worse than those of people in work even if they are on the same income.

Two good moves from government

Two good moves from government today:

First Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has announced that people with outstanding arrest warrants will no longer receive a benefit while evading Police.

“Of the approximately 15,000 people with a current arrest warrant, around 8,200 are on benefits,” says Mrs Bennett.

“If someone has an unresolved arrest warrant we will stop their benefit until they do the right thing and come forward to the authorities.”

“In exceptional circumstances where someone poses a danger to the public, their benefit can be stopped immediately at the request of the Police Commissioner,” says Mrs Bennett.

Around 58 per cent of people clear their arrest warrants within 28 days. Those who don’t will be given 10 days to clear or challenge the warrant before their benefit is stopped, or reduced by fifty per cent if they have dependent children.

People will still be able to apply for hardship assistance for themselves and their children.

“Most people clear their warrants within a month, so 38 days is a reasonable amount of time to step forward and straighten things out,” says Mrs Bennett.

“Once someone has come forward their benefit can be reinstated but there will be clear consequences for people who continually refuse to acknowledge or resolve arrest warrants.”

The only question about this is:why it has taken so long to do the sensible thing?

the welfare system wasn’t designed to support people who are evading Police.

The second good news is that the government is considering reducing fees for passport applications.

Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain says lower passport fees are being considered as the Government moves to enable online passport applications.

“Online applications have been trialled successfully and will be available to the public by the end of the year. This will streamline the process of applying for a passport and reduce costs, providing the opportunity to look at the level of fees,” says Mr Tremain.

“Passport fees are set at cost recovery level, currently $153.30 for a standard adult passport. Revenue from passports is only spent on passports. The change to a five-year passport has increased the volume of renewals, and a growing surplus has built up in the account, meaning that there is scope to reduce fees.

“Changing passport fees would require a change to regulations. I have asked officials to report back to me on different options for fee reductions, including a lower fee for online applications to incentivise applicants to move online.

“This will contribute significantly to the Government’s Better Public Services Result 10: That New Zealanders can complete their transactions easily with government in a digital environment. This aims to have 70% uptake of digital and online services for key transactions by 2017, including passport applications.

“Passports consistently rate among the very top public services in the Kiwis Count figures produced by the State Services Commission. This is an opportunity to return some savings to passport holders and provide even better public services at a lower cost.”

It’s only under consideration at the moment but such a move would be very welcome.

Applications should be charged on a cost-recovery basis and if the department is recovering more than it costs a reduction in charges is the logical action.

Five years come around very quickly and many people have to renew their passport some time before the old one expires.

Several countries require visitors to have a passport valid for up to six months before they are granted entry. That means you’re paying for a five-year passport which might be able to be used for only four and half years which makes it even more expensive.

Job ready – or not

Which bit of job-ready do people opposing Social Development Minister Paula Bennett’s determination that beneficiaries with work expectations will face sanctions if they refuse to apply for drug-tested jobs not understand?

Expecting employees to be drug-free is a reasonable expectation from employers.

Expecting beneficiaries who could work to be ready for work is also reasonable.

What’s wrong with a sanction for those who could work but do something which makes them ineligible for a job they are otherwise capable of doing?

Crime fighting action plan

Justice Minister Judith Collins launched an action plan to reduce crime and reoffending today:

“We’re focusing on six key areas, with a series of specific actions under each. We’re going to target high-crime locations, provide strong support for people at risk of repeat victimisation, improve interventions for vulnerable youth, reduce the availability of alcohol, increase availability of alcohol and drug treatment – both in prison and in the community – and invest in reintegration and rehabilitation for offenders.

“We’re throwing the weight of the justice sector – 22,000 staff and a budget of $3.8 billion each year – behind these targets. They are particularly ambitious given the reductions already gained, as continuing to reduce crime will get more difficult every year.”

Ms Collins says the plan is about locking in success and keeping crime falling.

“2011 saw the lowest crime rate in thirty years. Resolution rates continue to increase, and even violent crime – which had been rising – has stabilised. But for a victim of crime, that one crime is too many. Even on top of recent gains, achieving these targets will mean 112,000 fewer crimes between now and 2017 – and thousands fewer victims.

“We know a lot about crime – where it tends to occur, who it tends to affect, and the underlying factors that contribute to criminal behaviour. We’re taking what we know and turning it into comprehensive action across the justice and wider social sectors,” Ms Collins says.

The facts:

• Location is one of the strongest predictors of crime – particularly property crime, such as burglary, vehicle theft and shoplifting, which makes up two-thirds of all crime.
• 6 per cent of adults experience 54 per cent of all crime – this small group are victimised five or more times.
• The earlier a person begins offending, the greater their odds of reoffending. 17-19 year olds appearing in the adult court system for the first time are 2.3 times more likely to reoffend if they have a youth court history.
• 51 per cent of crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. Alcohol is implicated in 35 per cent of apprehensions for assaults, 18 per cent of apprehensions for sexual assaults and 49 per cent of apprehensions for disorderly conduct.
• Over 60 per cent of prisoners are unemployed prior to imprisonment and 90 per cent of prisoners have high literacy needs. Unemployment is also very high among offenders serving their sentence in the community. 65 per cent of sentenced offenders have a drug or alcohol problem.

The government has  set goals for the public service in five key areas, one of which is crime reduction.

Prime Minister John Key said:

“By 2017 we want to see the crime rate reduced by 15 per cent, the violent crime rate by 20 per cent, the youth crime rate by 5 per cent, and the reoffending rate by 25 per cent.

“These would represent meaningful results for New Zealand – 112,000 fewer crimes, 19,000 fewer violent crimes, and 1500 fewer young people appearing in court over the next five years.

Reducing crime has social and economic benefits.

Even people who aren’t directly affected as victims of crimes or through relationships to criminals are better off with safer homes and communities.

A separate initiative is the expansion of social workers in schools.

Extra Social Workers in Schools (SWiS) will begin in schools as the next term starts this month says Social Development Minister Paula Bennett

“The first fifty additional social workers will cover 95 schools in Northland, South Auckland and Hawke’s Bay, starting in the third school term.”

Minister Bennett announced the expansion to SWiS to all decile 1-3 schools last year, with coverage planned to increase from 285 to 673 schools.

‘’We said we’d phase the extra social workers in and these are the first 50 of 149 extra SWiS workers,” says Mrs Bennett.

“School staff can be the first to notice when something isn’t right with a child and with problems increasingly complex and difficult, qualified social workers are needed to address these issues with children and families.”

“Protecting children is an absolute priority and we need enough qualified social workers focused exclusively on children to do that,” says Mrs Bennett.

Helping children in need is worthy by itself and also as part of crime detection and prevention. Some children’s problems occur because they are victims of crimes. Regardless of what causes the problems, troubled children are more likely to have learning problems and therefore less likely to get work when they leave school which in turn makes it more likely to commit crimes.

It won’t be cheap but it is far better to spend money on the causes and prevention than on dealing with crime and its consequences.

 

Freeing from welfare trap

The welfare system was set up with the best of intentions but while it helps some it also traps others.

Social Welfare Minister Paula Bennett knows what can be done to change it and why it’s necessary to do it:

The welfare system has not been working as it could. It has allowed too many to become trapped in an intergenerational cycle of dependence.

There are more than 317,000 people on welfare right now. Add to that the 220,000 children living in welfare dependent homes and there are more than half a million New Zealanders reliant on welfare in any given week

This Government is transforming the welfare system into one that is modern, active and responsible because currently it is passive, out of date and quite frankly it is failing us . . . 

She then asks why not leave the economy to fix things as Labour and the Green Party want to:

We could leave it as it is, sure. And yes the Unemployment Benefit would decrease significantly as the economy bounces back.

But that would mean ignoring the other 270,000 people on welfare. That would mean wiping them off as not worthy of support into work and independence of the State.

And I will not do that.

I understand completely how frightening change can be. I get how debilitated and worthless some feel on welfare.

And the left would say that’s a strong enough reason to leave well enough alone, to feel sympathy for those on welfare.

They would pat them on the head and feel sorry for them. How condescending, how patronising and how meaningless.

I will not do that.

I understand how frightening change can be and I acknowledge that up-skilling, gaining confidence and getting a job is not easy.

But as Minister of Social Development I will continue to push, cajole, incentivise, obligate and at the end of the day put all my belief in those people on welfare.

And I will take some of the anger that comes from those most unsure and often frightened because to ignore the benefits of work, to only look at what they can’t do instead of what they can do, was a failure of the previous Labour Government, a failure I will not allow to continue.

Long overdue change is on its way and this is the first stage of this second term Government’s welfare reforms.

Change is necessary for those on benefits and those who pay for them.

This is not to punish anyone but to help those who can work to work, to give them new skills and the opportunity for a far better life than they could have if they remained trapped on welfare.

What’s unfair about fostering independence?

Green co-leader Metiria Turei has criticised  Social Development Minister Paula Bennett for unfairly targeting women and beneficiaries.

The Minister isn’t unfairly targeting anyone. She knows the difference between a hand-up which helps people become independent and hand-outs which entrench dependence and has developed policies to help those who need it most.

What’s unfair about fostering independence?

Helping people who are able to stand on their own two feet to do so by giving them the skills and incentives to do so is better for them and society.

Fostering a culture of dependence which is what the left loves to do is economic and social sabotage.

Refocus for Families Commission

The Families Commission was a post-election coalition trophy for United Future and I have never been convinced it did anything of sufficient value to justify its existence.

However a new focus announced by Social Develop Minister Paula Bennett could change that:

The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Professor Sir Peter Gluckman has identified a gap in monitoring, evaluation and research in the social sector.

“This restructure will see the Families Commission take on a new role providing for independent monitoring, evaluation and research to measure the effectiveness of initiatives for families and society,” says Mrs Bennett.

Of the $32.48 million funding the Families Commission receives over four years, the Government will reprioritise a minimum of $14.2 million over four years to set up a new Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (SuPERU).

This unit will provide independent monitoring, evaluation and contracting of research on key issues and social sector programmes and interventions.

“There will be a single Commissioner, down from the original seven and the organisation will be governed by a board comprising public sector, philanthropic and academic representatives,” says Mrs Bennett.

The restructure will see the Families Commission’s core function, which is to advocate for families, streamlined through a leaner, more focused structure.

A new Family Status Report will be developed to measure how New Zealand families are getting on.

A further $4 million over four years will be redirected to fund extra parenting programmes and relationship education in schools and the Prime Minister’s Youth Mental Health programme.

The Government also announced the transfer of responsibility for managing the Growing Up In New Zealand longitudinal study to the new unit.

The study will receive an additional $1.8m from Vote Social Development 2012/2013 financial year.

A focus based on science rather than feel-good factors is a good place to start in ensuring the Commission achieves something worthwhile and gives value for the money it costs.

More than 1/5 babies born dependent on caregiver on welfare by year’s end

Lindsay Mitchell has a very sobering statistic: 22.2 percent of babies born in 2011 were dependent on a caregiver receiving a benefit by the end of the same year.

“Over one in five babies reliant on welfare by year-end is a sobering statistic. Almost half of the caregivers were Maori and half were aged 24 or younger.”

“There is an established pattern of childbearing followed by reasonably rapid, if not immediate, recourse to welfare in New Zealand. This occurs during good and bad economic periods.”

“The implications for this high percentage lie in the likelihood of these children remaining on a benefit for many years. . . “

This is the main cause of too many children growing up in poverty and shows why Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is determined to address the causes of benefit dependency.

Hand-up not hand-outs

Quote of the day:

New Zealanders want a welfare system we can be proud of. The system must support people who genuinely can’t support themselves, but those who can work should be available for work and actively looking. Better resources and support to help more people off welfare dependency and into work is a clear priority. The system has failed too many New Zealanders by creating dependence and the Ministry of Social Development is moving towards a more active approach that will see greater support in helping more people off welfare and into work.

Young people are a clear priority within welfare reform. We know that those who go on welfare young tend to stay longer than others and have poorer opportunities as a result. Of real concern are the 16 and 17 year olds who become disengaged from education, employment and training and who are on a collision course with the adult welfare system. . .  Paula Bennett

This comes from the Minister’s forward to the Minsiter of Social Development’s Statement of Intent.

The rest of it is worth reading, signalling that this Minister wants real change which results in big improvements in the long-term outlook for young people who might otherwise be left to languish on benefits destined to a life of poverty.

It won’t be easy, nor will it be cheap, but it giving those who need it a hand up  is morally and financially better than giving them hand outs without any expectation that they will become independent.

Hat tip: Lindsay Mitchell

The other half of the equation

It’s easy to sheet responsibility for children born into welfare dependency on to their mothers.

But Social Development Minister Paula Bennett points out the other half of the equation:

Ms Bennett said there were men in the benefit system who had fathered numerous children, but they escaped much of the criticism. Some had up to eight children to different mothers – and even if they were employed they could not afford child support.

“We talk about teen mums a lot and yes, they are left with the babies. But you hear of older men with multiple children and they actually prey on young women as well,” Ms Bennett said. “I’m not sure we actually identify that as the problem that it is.”

Every man, of any age, who fathers a child for whom he doesn’t take emotional and financial responsibility is a large part of the problem of welfare dependency and poverty.

 

Spending to save

The provision of  $287.5 million over the next four years in this month’s Budget is an example of spending to save.

It will fund the first phase of the Government’s welfare reforms to help more New Zealanders into work, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.

This includes $81.5 million of additional up-front funding, with the remainder reprioritised funding from within Social Development.

The second phase of reforms will be funded in Budget 2013. The entire welfare package is expected to cost at least $520 million and it will save $1 billion over four years.

“Added to the current $7.6 billion annual cost of welfare, this extra investment provides support – such as childcare and staff – that is vital to the reforms.

”The Government’s welfare changes require a significant up-front financial support. We’ve made a commitment to provide that investment to ensure fewer people are on welfare long term.

“The first phase of spending is focused on better supports that will help more people out of the welfare trap,” Mrs Bennett says.

Budget 2012 will include:

• $80 million over four years for Early Childhood Education childcare and the Guaranteed Childcare Assistance Payment.
• $55.1 million over four years for 155 dedicated Work and Income staff to support Jobseekers and sole parents into work.
• $148.8 million over four years for youth services including wrap-around support.

“Support for young people is central to the wider welfare reforms,” Mrs Bennett says.

“Funding for youth services will be targeted at budgeting and parenting courses, milestone payments to providers and wrap-around support as well as an extra incentive payment to young people.

“This also includes $77.6 million to support the roughly 14,000 disengaged 16- and 17-year olds, to move them into education or training.”

Of the total $148.8 million for youth services, there is $134.7 million for Youth Service providers. This is an increase of $75.9 million over four years for providers above current funding levels.

“For the first time, the Ministry of Education will share information with the Ministry of Social Development to track and pick up these young people.

“Youth Providers will have unprecedented flexibility to work with disengaged or unemployed young people and teen parents to get them into education, attaining NCEA Level 2, or in training.”

No-one ever said saving people from welfare dependency would be cheap but the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term costs.