Paula Bennett: The job market is in crisis and welfare numbers don't tally

Have 105,000 New Zealanders seeking jobs really not been able to find one? Photo / Andrew Warner

OPINION

Instead of pulling together and being a team of five million, it increasingly feels that the distance between some New Zealanders is more like a canyon. There are more and more people who have lost hope, don't believe in the values that used to bind all of us and/or just truly think that they don't have to work for a living.

At a time when businesses are desperate for both skilled and unskilled workers, the March data shows that there are 105,000 people who have been on a Jobseeker benefit for more than one year. That's an increase of 37,000 people in the five years of a Labour Government. One of the most concerning groups is 18-25-year-olds. Some need extra help and, of course, that should be provided, because it will lower the long-term human and financial cost. The younger you are when you go on welfare - and the longer you stay on it - the more likely you are to have poor outcomes throughout your life.

The number of 18-25-year-olds on the benefit has doubled under Labour's watch. At a time when employers are giving jobs to anyone who will show up, we have 105,000 people in New Zealand who can't or won't show up. Instead, they have been collecting welfare for more than a year. These are not people with disabilities, sole parents or seniors. These are people who have met the criteria set by Work and Income NZ that they are "available for and seeking full-time employment". Have 105,000 New Zealanders really been looking for work for more than 12 months and been unable to find it?

Anyone concerned by evidence that people are being left to drop out of society, will be equally worried by the school absenteeism figures which show 100,000 kids are not attending school on three days out of 10. These are likely to be the next tranche of beneficiaries unless their parents, schools and the Government do more to get them into class. It's a new welfare crisis unfolding in plain sight.

The Prime Minister, or one of her ministers, blames employers for not paying enough. Hospitality, construction and other sectors have responded to the tight labour market with improved wages and conditions but still 105,000 people are on benefit instead of in work. The benefits of work are more than monetary – although if money is the motivator then I say to beneficiaries, "Get a job, prove your worth and seek a higher wage."

In other words, you have to start somewhere and that has to be in paid work. The other benefits include a healthier, more social life and a sense of meaning and purpose. I get that there are people who don't think they should have to "sell out" to big business or do "menial" work. I believe in free choice – I just don't think that taxpayers should have to pay for it.

So as the Government makes excuses for those who won't work, thousands more go on the dole each year and stay longer.

Paula Bennett is a former Deputy Prime Minister and National Party politician who now works at Bayleys Real Estate as national director-customer engagement.