Story of would-be hooker begins to look shaky

When things get tight, people do desperate things and last week we saw one desperate woman advertise she had made a choice to become a prostitute rather than continue on her domestic purposes benefit, so she could study at university.

But I wonder how desperate she really is. It sounds very dramatic, and she had posted the advertisements apparently but had yet to commence work in her new line of business.

The Green Party thought the story was so politically useful that they had flown her down to Wellington from Auckland to get media attention and arrange a television interview to be screened that night.

Questions were asked in Parliament and then things started to crumble for the Greens new List MP Jan Logie. Firstly, Labour Party Jacinda Ardern blew the whistle by asking questions on the same point, effectively stealing the show.

It all blew up in their faces as the facts came to light. The mother of two children receives a benefit which amounts to the equivalent of a $43,000 wage. This does not include early children education funding for both children, it does not include money Winz would loan for educational costs, it does not include hardship grants that would be available from time to time, and it does not include $4000 towards fees and $1000 course-related costs.

As the Greens and the Labour Party have so strongly supported the integrity of the woman, it follows she was not just going to turn a few "tricks" to supplement her benefit because that would only allow her to earn $100 per week on top of her benefit after declaring her supplementary income.

The obvious contention is that she would go off the benefit and work full-time in the industry. Most people would find it very hard to believe that any mother of two children is forced give up the benefit to become a prostitute.

The comparison is frequently made between what money solo parents can access for training or education now and 20 years ago.

The NZ Herald investigated this and found that a woman in the same circumstances today is $160 better off each week than a sole parent studying in the early 1990's.

Through this little saga, nobody has made a point of the risk such activities could bring to the welfare of the children living in this situation.

Surely a mum intelligent enough to study at university can see the threat to the health and welfare of two small children being supported in this way.

No matter how lawful and sanitised by legislation prostitution may have become, the drugs, alcohol and violent associations of street work are a threat not only for the workers but for those dependent on them.

In the end, the story flopped as the questions were answered and the true situation was outed.

TV news was not so interested once the woman's options were publicised.