The National Party made public its harsh welfare policies in August last year, resulting in a marked increase in calls to counseling service Lifeline by distressed welfare recipients when they won the November election. The policies were put on hold due to the recession that was seeing thousands of jobs lost, but now they are on the agenda. Once legislation is enacted single parents receiving the domestic purposes benefit -people that now Prime Minister John Key has described as “breeding for a business”- will be required to find work for 15 hours a week or undertake training when their children reach school age, and a number of sickness and invalid beneficiaries categorised as capable of working will also be required to find part time work. The long term unemployed who have given up looking for work will be forced to start applying for jobs again.

Despite modest economic growth (0.1%), unemployment is still rising, making employers who do have positions available unlikely to take on the sick, the infirm, the inexperienced, and people who can only work hours that will fit around childcare requirements. For the former two categories addressing issues with the public health system would be a better way to reduce numbers on welfare, yet the government seems to be doing the opposite; recently ending free physiotherapy, something that could allow people who have had accidents or injuries to return to work faster.
For single parents it needs to acknowledged that parenting, even when children spend 30 hours a week at school, is a full time job, and payments for single parents should not even be thought of in the same category as welfare. Since 2007 Venezuela has paid women head of households 80 per cent of the legal minimum wage for their work in the home, if a developing country in South America can do this, why not New Zealand?