Yesterday in the electorate office I met an articulate middle aged woman at her wits end. She is a skilled person- a business analyst and project manager in the IT sector. She has been out of work for most of the last two years. She has used up all her savings and has now had to sell her home. She came to see me because she is being given the run around by Work and Income about her eligibility for support. As she said she felt like the staff at Work and Income made her feel it was her fault she was unemployed. She knows its not their fault, they are only following the directives from the top. She is stressed and struggling.
We talked, my office staff went away to talk to Work and Income, and I suggested some ideas for helping with her job search. She said towards the end of the conversation, ” I am working really hard here, but what is the government doing to help create jobs.”
Well, apart from obfuscating about the latest rise in unemployment, Mr Key has been having a great old time this week. I can’t sum it up better than Duncan Garner
But the figures out yesterday are John Key’s problem. He’s promised Kiwis that National would bring better jobs, higher wages and voters flocked to him. He has now said jobs are coming and we just need a little more patience. But time is ticking.
Key can dance badly and he can smile, he can laugh at himself and pick which of the ladies are hot – and in many ways his opponents have totally underestimated his ability as a politician and his ability to reach into ordinary New Zealand households.
But ordinary households need the recovery to kick in too, and Key needs more jobs to be created – his political credibility and the credibility of his economic plan relies on it.
Posted in Economic Plan, John Key and Unemployment. |
The thing that depresses me the most about National’s so-called welfare reforms is that they are fuelled by outdated Tory thinking. Here was me thinking that the ‘modern’ National Party was not bogged down in ideology, and was focused on “what works”. But no, it is a “kick in the pants” and time to stop “living the dream”. For National unemployment is the fault of the unemployed, and if only they pulled their socks up everything would be all right.
I have said before on this blog that I, along with most people, am appalled if people rip off the system. Where that happens we should crack down. But let’s also not accept the myth that the current system is all carrot and no stick. At the moment people on the unemployment benefit have to be seeking work. Work and Income monitor benefit recipients closely. It is true that there is no work test for DPB recipients. So much for family friendly National. I am anxiously awaiting to hear of the thousands of jobs conveniently timed for 9-3pm that have flexibility over sick days.
The experience of Trevor in the Dominion Post is much more like the reality of the people who I have seen in my office in recent months. They want to use their skills. They, and we as taxpayers, have invested in their skills, but the jobs are not there for them at the moment.
A kick in the pants might sound good, but in the end if we are to actually move people off benefits and into work it requires a constructive, active approach to go with clear rules. Most other countries we normally compare ourselves to had massive investments in job creation through the recession. We had a cycleway.
The reality is this policy does not have any vision for how we move more people into work, because it is not about helping to create jobs, or to find ways to work with long term unemployed. It is straight out dog whistle politics that seeks to re-inforce an image of ‘bludging no hopers who are a drain on resources’. No matter the evidence of the thousands of people who lined up for jobs at a supermarket in Auckland recently. If it plays well with some prejudices that might exist in the electorate then it seems National want to go there.
Posted in Unemployment, Jobs and Inequality. |
