Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
A new requirement for New Zealanders receiving the Jobseeker Work Ready benefit starts today as part of the coalition Government’s plan to reduce the number of people receiving the payment.
Figures from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) show 112,713 people were receiving Jobseeker Work Ready as of June 14 – levels not seen since early September 2021 when New Zealand went into lockdown in response to a Covid-19 outbreak.
From today, people who have received the Jobseeker Support Work Ready benefit will be required to meet with MSD at a seminar after six months to discuss how their job search is going. Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston estimated this would cover around 20,000 people over the next 12 months.
The requirement applies to those who have “full-time work obligations” attached to their benefit. It excludes those receiving the Jobseeker Support Health Condition and Disability payments.
“Work check-ins are another way the coalition Government is making the welfare system more proactive about supporting Kiwis in their search for employment,” Upston said.
“These check-ins will ensure a larger number of job seekers have more regular contact with MSD, providing more opportunity to gauge their progress and make sure they are receiving the right support and job training.”
The Green Party social development spokesman, Ricardo Menendez March, called the requirement “frivolous” and a way of punishing Jobseeker beneficiaries and adding to the stigma they face.
“The Government is more interested in punishing the poor than actually helping people into good employment.
“This ‘new’ idea about check-ins with MSD for beneficiaries sees the coalition doubling down on policies that don’t work: people on benefits routinely hauled over the coals to meet with advisers to be grilled on their suitability to employment, or risk having their benefits cut.”
Menendez March said the Government should instead establish networks for more tailored support for people to retrain and prepare for work opportunities suitable to their skill set.
“We’ve seen in previous decades how check-ins contributed more to the negative stigma of being unemployed, and there’s no evidence that they help people into meaningful employment. But this coalition has a habit of taking the country backwards.”
Green MP Ricardo Menendez March. Photo / RNZ
Today’s announcement is the latest step in the coalition Government’s plan to reduce the number of people receiving benefits.
Earlier this year, Upston also announced Kōrero Mahi – Let’s talk work, seminars that job seekers are required to attend within two weeks of starting their benefits. The coalition Government has ramped up the threat of sanctions recently, saying those who didn’t attend the seminars could be sanctioned - have their benefits cut - unless they had a good reason.
In February, Upston said she had written to the chief executive of MSD to make “this Government’s view clear that we want to see all obligations and sanctions applied”.
“If job seekers fail to attend job interviews, to complete their pre-employment tasks, or to take work that is available, then there needs to be consequences.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said during his State of the Nation speech this year that the “free ride” was over for beneficiaries who were taking advantage of the welfare system.
“We’ll do everything we can to help people into work, but if they don’t play ball the free ride is over.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
