Govt accused of 'making life harder for employers'

ACT New Zealand has accused the current administration of "making life harder for employers" for not being able to get Benefit recipients to work.

According to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Employment, there are 344,622 people receiving a Main Benefit, while recipients of the Jobseeker Work Ready Main Benefit is at 100,086.

Karen Chhour, ACT's Social development spokesperson, questioned how the government was not able to get these recipients into work as the country faces staffing problems.

"How is it possible that MSD has been unable to shift tens of thousands of beneficiaries into work when employers are screaming out for workers?" said Chhour in a statement.

"We have a historical labour shortage. MSD has 100,000 work-ready beneficiaries on its books, an additional 35,000 work-ready beneficiaries compared to when they took office. When fruit is rotting on branches and businesses are crying out for labour there should be no excuse for them to turn down suitable work," added the spokesperson.

MSD's June Quarter Benefit statistics showed that the number of people receiving a Main Benefit continues to fall.

"There are 3,717 fewer people on a Main Benefit compared to March 2022," said MSD Minister Carmel Sepuloni in a statement. "However, while we are still seeing a good number of people move off benefit and into work, there is still some volatility in weekly numbers due to the ongoing COVID pandemic."

ACT acknowledged that while the number of people cancelling their benefit to join the workforce has decreased, sanction on beneficiaries who aren't meeting the Benefit's conditions have also dropped by 2,000 in the last year.

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The party has previously accused the government of "giving up" on prosecuting people for benefit fraud. According to Chhour, Labour does not want to incentivise Kiwis to work, adding that a "culture of victimhood" is perpetuating Labour's welfare approach.

"Labour just doesn't seem to want to incentivise Kiwis to work. Their culture of welfare dependency is hurting New Zealand's productivity, with able Kiwis choosing to reside on a benefit rather than play their part in society and work," said Chhour.

"A culture of victimhood is perpetuating Labour's welfare approach rather than the belief that people can make a difference in their own lives," she added. "The real tragedy is that Labour's low expectations for beneficiaries is preventing them from creating a better life for themselves and their families."

Instead of making Benefits the solution, Chhour urged the administration to address poverty by growing the economy and fixing the education system.

"ACT today proposed a document full of cost of living solutions the Government should be following to do exactly that," said the spokesperson. "Welfare is about helping people get back on their feet, it's not a lifestyle choice."