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Fewer Sanctions but more Hardship
There are now more people on Jobseeker Benefit than this time a year ago, a fact which the opposition parties interpret as a sign of weak application of sanctions by W&I.
Kay Brereton Benefit advocate says:
“ I find
it sad, that political parties think that a certain
percentage of those with inadequate income should be
punished, and denied that income “through W&I’s punitive
sanction regime.”
“I am hopeful that the decrease
in sanctions illustrates an improvement in the application
of the regime, and that W&i are no longer sanctioning people
who had a good and sufficient reason for missing their
appointment. I knew of people being sanctioned for not
attending an appointment, even though the reason they
didn’t attend was because they were at their part time
job.”
“The decrease in sanctions is very close to
the percentage of sanctions which were overturned through
the process which enabled a person to dispute a sanction
they believed shouldn’t have been imposed, so may well
mean that practice has improved.”
“The increase in
people on Jobseeker may be further indication of improved
practice and it may be more people in part time and casual
work are now being accepted as eligible for an abated
benefit, in addition the increase in numbers contains many
people who were studying during the year and are now looking
for work.”
“Sadly in the current precarious labour
market with many roles being part time and casual a lot of
people need assistance from W&I to top up their
wages.”
“What these figures show is increasing
need in a significant portion of NZ’s population, with the
increase in hardship assistance illustrating the need for
immediate increases to benefit rates, as they are currently
insufficient for even a basic standard of
living.”
“That more and more people are needing
help with the basic essentials of life such as food and
housing, is a nationwide phenomenon which beneficiary
advocates see increasing every week, substantial increases
in the base benefit rate are needed to reverse this
trend.”
ends
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