Regardless of the changes in policy any government must be conscious of looking after the most vulnerable the young, the sick, the elderly and people with disabilities. These people are most affected by sweeping changes.
These are desperate times and those most critical of people on benefits get swept up because if it is okay in their backyard they believe that applies to everyone else. Not every beneficiary is a bludger, frittering taxpayers' money away on alcohol and cigarettes, and not every solo mother is a promiscuous teenager.
Quite frankly the generalisation that every person reliant on welfare is lazy is unreasonable.
But to be perfectly blunt we know plenty are and there is an urgent need to address those who have now been raised believing that a benefit is an entitlement and a perfectly suitable alternative to finding a job.
I watched on television this week people being interviewed outside various Work and Income offices around the country.
Virtually without exception there were people with an apparent genuine desire to work but realistic that with no or little education and criminal records to boot there was little chance of getting any job.
The solo mother interviewed was expecting another baby.
I think it was a little audacious to criticise the Government's position on welfare when you are prepared to bring another child into the world not knowing how you are going to provide the necessities of life. She had left school after only two years of secondary education and with one child and another on the way it is easy to predict the future for the next generation.
If there was ever an advertisement for the importance of education it was overwhelming on display outside those offices.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has an unenviable job. As a solo mother herself she should and will have a greater understanding of the challenges facing women on the DPB.
Let's not forget that many women through no fault of their own are left to raise children on their own after divorce or a relationship breakdown when hubby has had his mid-life crisis and traded for a younger model.
The stigma attached to being on the benefit is horrific, let alone suddenly having to manage on a much lower income and a drastic change in lifestyle.
For those in genuine need, being forced into work testing when their child is one makes me think that the Government has lost sight of the importance of parenting.
Finding work that allows mothers to look after sick children, pays enough to cover child care and keeps them above the bread line is difficult, even rare, particularly in this economic environment.
So no-one would deny there is a massive problem, but like all good critics we often can identify the problem but providing the solutions is the tricky part.
Whatever the outcome I hope that the most at risk, the children who never have any choice in the matter, do not become the victims.
After all, they are our future and history will just keep repeating itself if this doesn't work.
