The point of ‘welfare’ in NZ is to be as overwhelming and obtuse on purpose

Neurodivergent man overwhelmed by Jobseeker admin comes off weekly support

A young neurodivergent man who was on the Jobseeker benefit says the sheer number of forms to fill, job websites to join and roles to apply for each week was so overwhelming he decided to come off the weekly support.

Autism NZ warns that is extremely concerning and common but the Ministry of Social Development said its staff are there to help and support is on offer.

The man – who wishes to remain anonymous – has dyslexia and dyspraxia, making administrative tasks taxing and sometimes overwhelming.

To show how much paperwork he was required to do, he measured the file holding documents related to being on the Jobseeker benefit.

“It is a full centimetre thick, the file that I have. Most of it is from when I was applying, there’s a few brochures, my last payslip, a bunch of stuff from Inland Revenue, the MSD job hunter booklet, multiple bank statements, my dad’s death certificate.”

He is in his 20s and was working for his dad, a plasterer, who sadly passed away in March.

A few months later, he applied for the Jobseeker benefit but within weeks started to find the admin overwhelming.

He needed to update his CV and provide his case manager with regular updates of his job searches, which included taking screenshots and keeping a list of companies, dates and responses – but he does not own a smartphone.

“It is a hindrance to me when it comes to dealing with too much paperwork, admin, computers. I struggle with that,” he said.

“You have to reset one password and then you start getting more passwords wrong because you’re frustrated and gets you on a negative loop until it just wears away at your sanity a bit. I can’t take that.”

He told his case manager at Work and Income that the paperwork was too much and he wanted to come off the benefit – he was living at home and had started a part-time job but was hoping to complete a training course while on the benefit with the aim of getting full-time work.

He said he believed his ability to cope with admin was the problem, not Work and Income to whom he did not disclose his disability because he felt a bit embarrassed and ashamed.

Autism NZ chief executive Dane Dougan said he regularly hears from people who have given up on the benefit process.

The point of ‘welfare’ in NZ is to be as overwhelming and obtuse on purpose.

When unemployment is 5.2 these new welfare sanctions are just political cruelty…

New ‘non-financial’ benefit sanctions begin today

New “non-financial” benefit sanctions starting today are about having “more tools available” than the current options, says the Minister for Social Development.

…the ‘Money Management’ punishment is called a ‘non-financial’ sanction, but that’s bullshit! It cuts welfare in half by 50% and forces it onto a card that people can’t use to pay rent or bills with.

It is designed to make being on welfare impossible, that’s the point.

The second sanction is ‘Community Work Experience’ which again is a set of hoops that if not completed leads to cuts in welfare.

The reason the Government are introducing these new sanctions is because the Regulatory Impact Statement for the legislation warned these new penalties “exacerbates the risk of a client facing hardship”, and that’s the point!

This is designed yo be so difficult people are forced off welfare.

Only 1.2% of beneficiaries are currently not complying with the existing job ready demands so this Government has created new ‘non-financial’ tactics to use to make people not comply!

Once someone is sanctioned with a ‘Money Management scheme’ or ‘Community Work Experience scheme’ they become ineligible for emergency housing or special needs grants so that they fall over on purpose!

MSD now want 6 monthly reviews but hilariously they cut workers so can’t manage a 6 month review – what was the Government’s solution? Why they will use AI to find a discrepancy to penalise you with and they will use AI to reject your claim so you are forced to find a real staff member to try and get it back.

They have doubled the length of time they can punish you for when trawling through your life and there is actually no clear path off the ‘Money Management scheme’ or ‘Community Work Experience scheme’ once you get punished with it.

This Government is so hell bent on screwing over the poor to find their tax cuts for the rich, they’ve even gone after sole parents whop rent a room out to a Boarder!

Labour accuses govt of trying to avoid scrutiny by passing bill under urgency

A post-Budget debate about changes to an accommodation supplement unusually dragged on into the early hours of Saturday morning, as opposition parties tried in vain to block the changes.

The House sat under urgency to debate a dozen bills, when a vote on the Social Assistance Legislation (Accommodation Supplement and Income-related Rent) Amendment Bill was called at about 11.30pm.

Usually, Parliament would not sit beyond midnight, but once a vote commences, it cannot stop without leave. That leave was sought by Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, but denied by government MPs.

Instead, opposition parties filed dozens of minor amendments, dragging out the proceedings. McAnulty accused the government of trying to avoid scrutiny by passing the bill under urgency.

“There’s no reason for this bill to go through under urgency, it’s got nothing to do with the Budget really,” he told RNZ. “They are going to try and save money from this bill to fill the gaps in their Budget.

“It should go to select committee and New Zealanders should have an opportunity to have their say.”

“We saw this with the Pay Equity Bill recently and now they’re doing it with this bill as well, and we oppose it. Many New Zealanders don’t know it’s happening, because it’s getting rushed through.”

Under the change, every boarder a person has will be taken into account, when their accommodation supplement is calculated by Work and Income. Currently, only those with three or more boarders have their supplement reduced.

McAnulty said more than 7000 people would be affected by the changes, which would reduce subsidies by roughly $100 a week.

How spiteful is this Government?

They are ramming through under urgency legislation originally set up to try and help Sole Parents with housing costs by allowing them 2 Boarders to help pay the rent.

These changes will force Sole Parents who have Boarders to now include their share of the rent in their own housing allowance calculations meaning those sole parents (or head tenants) who have 1 or 2 Boarders will lose $100 a week in their own housing allowance!

It is such a spiteful and brutal thing to do to Renters who have a Boarder to help cover costs, these people are not rolling in cash, they are just keeping their heads above water.

National are so desperate to take money from the poor to fund the rich, they are coming after sole parent renters who have a Boarder!

National take today what tomorrow never brings.

The point of ‘welfare’ in NZ is to be as overwhelming and obtuse on purpose.

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