It’s back to work you go

The government has signalled that it would like parents to go back to work when their youngest child reaches 12 months.

Parents can only go back to work if they have a job to go back to. The government can’t make parents “go back to work” – or even look for work - unless they are on a benefit.

But it is beneficiaries that this policy is designed for – those who, by definition cannot go “back” to work, but must find work. But it is not just any beneficiaries – it is targeted at sole parents. And in some cases it could cost taxpayers more than leaving them on the benefit. Not that it is a good or bad thing, it just is.

A sole mother with three kids on the DPB gets $326.82 in benefit payments, plus Working for Families payments. Some get a WINZ accommodation supplement.

If she gets a job for 20 hours a week she loses her benefit. But if she earns less than $80,000 – which she will – she can get an $11.52 an hour WINZ childcare subsidy - to a maximum of $576.00 a week - to look after her kids. Her Working for Families payments will also increase by $60.00 a week.

Say she has three kids under five. She gets a job for 20 hours a week at $23/hr – she’d get $460.00 a week. She works four hours a day and takes an hour to get to work. While she works 20 hours, her travel time is 10 hours so she`ll get 30 hours of state-subsidised childcare a week – that’s $345.60 - which is more than the DPB. She’d also have to pay about $30 each week to travel to work.

If she got a job at $16 an hour for 20 weeks, she’d be getting slightly more than she got on a benefit, due to the $60 In Work Payment - but the state will be contributing even more to childcare.

But - the theory goes - it is better for the state to contribute more to pay someone else to look after kids, than for a mum on the DPB to stay home and look after children.

Much better for the worker to contribute to the economy and pay transport costs to keep the buses running – because she is paying more tax.

Governments appear to think that staying home to look after your kids is only a good idea if you have an earning partner.

National jumping at ghosts in the machine on welfare

John Armstrong, in commenting on Labours criticism of Nationals welfare policy, considers Labour is " jumping at ghosts in the mirror" . Equally it could be claimed that National is jumping at ghosts in the machine. The machine of Work and Income.

Much has been made of "personal plans produced by beneficiaries" that detail how they intend getting back into the workforce.I've seen a few of these plans. These plans are not personal plans at all - more about what beneficiaries should be doing anyway - get a CV, attend a job interview in the next six months and turn up to their next appointment. Those on the DPB are required have a PDEP - a personal development and employment plan - on their files, whereas those on other benefits who are assessed as being able to work are to have a JSA - Job Seekers Agreement. If they don't stick to these plans they get work tested - meaning that if they don't do anything about the work test they get their benefit automatically suspended. If they dont do anything once it is suspended it gets automatically cancelled.

Problem is that hardly anyone gets worktested. If beneficiaries miss an appointment as detailed on a JSA, another letter simply goes out requesting they return at another appointment date. And if they havent fulfilled their JSA requirements once they turn up to the appointment, another one is simply reprinted with a different reporting date.

But you need to be aware that the beneficiaries do not write these plans, the case managers do. And they write them based on a template with minor adjustments as a compliance issue. The plans are for no longer than a six month period and have to be renewed once they expire. They are not often renewed until months after they expire. They are not negotiated with the beneficiary, but the beneficiary has to sign them so a signature can be on the file. It is a bit similar to the ACC Independent Rehabilitation Plan. They are punitive, bureaucratic, time wasting, and legally worthless.

Under National, the PDEP's will have a work component for all whose youngest child is six or over, and those DPB beneficiaries will be registered in WINZ's SOLO system that refers beneficiaries to work-related training and vacancies. That is the only difference to the current situation. So as Labour is already doing much of National's policy, Ruth Dyson can hardly criticise National's policy towards other beneficiaries.

These plans are also disregarded by everyone at WINZ who looks for jobs for beneficiaries - who are mainly work brokers.National wants a greater job focus on these worthless plans. That is why its policy will not make a scrap of difference to the rate of those on the benefit who get full time WINZ-assisted jobs. Its simply politics, when fresh policy is needed.

Sometime, I`ll outline why there is no essentially no difference in Labour and National's policies on getting beneficiaries into job training or providing incentives to work.

National's welfare policy is work for the dole in drag

National released its welfare policy today.

Although there's a focus on work, its not work for the dole, because too many of those on the dole are now on sickness and invalids benefits. But beneficiaries must work or be sanctioned. Those on the DPB will have to enter work or training for 15 hours once their youngest child reaches six. Most care for children under six and the best way to avoid this is to have more kids.

About 5,600 sickness and invalid beneficiaries have been categorized as capable of working, and John Key says even Invalids beneficiaries will be required work for at least 15 hours per week in employment, training, or job-seeking activities. Like telemarketing and pushing trolleys at supermarkets, thus keeping wages where they are.

Yet, the MSD guidelines state that to qualify for an Invalid’s Benefit you must be 16 or over and unable to regularly work 15 hours or more a week, unless you are blind. Those on sickness benefits will have to get a doctor's medical certificate every four weeks instead of the current 13 weeks. Doctors will be very happy with the extra income.

National will require those who have been on the dole for more than a year - about a third of the register - to re-apply for their benefit and undergo a comprehensive work assessment. It is not clear those who have transferred to the sickness benefit after being on the dole for a year also need to reapply. It appears they don't, which will increase the numbers on the sickness benefit as many transfer to other benefits to avoid reapplying.

Those who are working will get the first $100 before their benefit is abated by 70% for each dollar earned, which is really equivalent to a CPI adjustment and should have already been done. They should make the threshold at least $140 to align it with the increase in the minimum wage.

John Key has said paid work is the route to independence. What he didn't say was that it didn't matter if that paid work was undertaken while on a benefit.

It does matter, but National's policy does not reflect that, because there's little that enables beneficiaries to get full time jobs.

This only leads one to conclude that National doesn't care if people are on benefits as long as they are working.