"They need jobs, they don't need a beat-up ... this is not a good change. It's just going to put people under more pressure and stress."
About 95 per cent of people the agency worked with wanted employment.
"People want to work but there are no jobs. This is the problem. The Government has ignored this aspect," Mr Howard said.
Many people were finding it degrading being unemployed and the new sanctions would only make the situation worse for them, he said.
"With the pressure people are under they don't feel good enough to get a job now and [the benefit change] isn't going to help them."
Ministry of Social Development's latest figures show about 3200 Wairarapa residents claimed benefits in March, down slightly from 3369 a year ago.
Nationwide, 8000 beneficiaries, with arrest warrants outstanding for offences such as unpaid fines, will feel the effect in 38 days unless they clear the warrants or fines.
Drug-testing of job-seekers is expected to cut the benefits of about 5800 people.
The welfare system overhaul has already seen sickness beneficiaries, sole parents and widows with no children aged under 14 face the same requirements to find work as other jobless people.
Since last October, single parents have been required to work part-time when their youngest child turns 5 and full-time when they turn 14.
Those with children under 5 have been required to take reasonable steps to prepare for employment such as training and work experience.
Wairarapa Labour hopeful Kieran McAnulty said this was a bad move for the Wairarapa region.
Since 2005, unemployment in the region had risen 250 per cent which showed jobs just weren't available for beneficiaries to take on, Mr McAnulty said.
The Government needed to focus on creating jobs so people could work, not punish them for being unemployed, he said.
"That shows people in the Wairarapa want to work but the jobs aren't there ... It's just become a numbers game. Where are these people going to go to get these jobs? They need to create jobs rather than fiddle around with numbers."
The new measures would force many families deeper into poverty, he said.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett had benefited from a welfare system which funded education and yet she had removed the opportunity for others to better themselves, Mr McAnulty said.
"She was helped to get a decent job but she has taken that chance away from mothers in the same situation. Nobody else can follow that same inspirational path now," he said.
The system had been set up to help people in need not punish them for their situation, he said.
"They are now seen as a burden on the state ... it's a national shame. It's sad. The focus should be on parents being good parents and not being beaten up for trying to be good parents."
Auckland Action Against Poverty spokeswoman Sarah Thompson said the reforms would have a brutal impact on hundreds of thousands of children and adults who depended on the state for survival.
"This is not about getting people into decent work, it's not about job creation. It's about cutting costs by pushing vulnerable people off the books," Mrs Thompson said.
New Zealanders who ended up on welfare would have more hoops to jump through and face more punitive measures as the Government pushed them into low-paid, insecure work.
However, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said the new approach would offer people more individualised support, targeting those at risk of long-term dependence.
The new work obligations for single parents were an opportunity for beneficiaries to get back into the working world.
"Like most New Zealanders, I think that's absolutely reasonable and more importantly, it's making a difference to sole parents and their children as already 9000 sole parents have gone off welfare into work.
"Benefit rates will remain unchanged and there will be extra support for those who want to work but need more help to get them ready," Ms Bennett said.
A work bonus was available for those who opted to work, despite having no work obligations.
Additional reporting APNZ
