Media Advisory
Budget 2017: What does “Social Investment” really mean?
Julienne Molineaux, Director of The Policy Observatory, interviews Simon Chapple

Economist and Policy Observatory researcher Simon Chapple has been studying the rhetoric and reality of the government’s ‘social investment approach’ to social policy. He concludes that:
• While ‘social investment’ is an attractive phrase across the political spectrum, the approach is primarily being used to cut government spending on social services.
• Government Ministers talk about improving well-being outcomes for disadvantaged New Zealanders. But the incentives given to agencies are to cut costs. There are no incentives to ensure the recipients of government funding or interventions are, indeed, better off as a result of these interventions, or from exiting the welfare system. Thus the policy risks making vulnerable New Zealanders worse off.

Simon Chapple was interviewed for the Spinoff website. A short version of the is here:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/24-05-2017/is-social-investment-just-a-warm-and-fuzzy-cloak-for-seeking-to-shrink-the-state/
The long version of the interview is now on the Policy Observatory website:
https://thepolicyobservatory.aut.ac.nz/publications/budget-2017-what-does-social-investment-really-mean

Queries can be directed to The Policy Observatory, AUT:
policyobservatory@aut.ac.nz

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