Fairer Future Collaboration spokesperson Brooke Pao Stanley, of Auckland Action Against Poverty, says it's time for the Government to "level up" income support so everyone can live with dignity. Poverty was forcing people into impossible situations. There are long queues at foodbanks (pictured),

Those working in the field, like Liz Davies, agree. Davies is the general manager of SociaLink, the umbrella organisation for the Western Bay of Plenty's social agencies and charities.

"As we are seeing more working people accessing local services such as Foodbank for the first time, you can only imagine how much people relying on benefits are struggling.

"Without sufficient income to cover the basic costs of life, many people inevitably end up in debt which makes it harder to climb out of poverty," she says.

Davies says local social service providers are working "very hard" to support and empower people on low incomes and benefits.

Ensuring people have a liveable income would make a huge difference to whanau who then wouldn't require food parcels and would be more likely to access health services, she says.

The shortfall

An update of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group's (WEAG) modelling on what income is needed to meet basic costs shows the difference between what people get and need.

It found the majority of people receiving income support still won't have nearly enough to live on, even after the April 2022 income support increases.

The update compared WEAG family cost estimates, inflation-adjusted for 2022, to Government estimates of April 2022 benefit entitlements.

The result? Some of the country's worst-off families face shortfalls of up to $300 a week.

Twelve out of 13 families won't be able to meet their costs. Nine won't be able to meet core essential costs like rent, food and transport.

Here's an example. A couple with three children receiving the Jobseeker allowance need around $300 extra a week to meet their total costs.

These costs include children's sport and a contingency fund for unexpected bills.

Even if you pared everything back to their core costs, they couple still need an additional $165 a week.

Here's another example. A sole parent with three children will require around $240 more a week to meet total costs. Take away everything except the core items and there's still a $111 shortfall each week.

A single person receiving the Jobseeker allowance and sharing a house will need about $90 more every week to cover all costs.

"We urge the Government to do the right thing and ensure liveable support for all," Stanley says.

Key changes needed

The Fairer Future Collaboration is calling for seven key changes to income support. These include:

• increasing core benefit levels to the standard of liveable incomes
• raising the minimum wage to the living wage
• increasing the Disability Allowance
• overhauling relationship rules
• removing sanctions
• wiping debt owed to the Ministry of Social Development
• improving access and supplementary supports to meet basic needs.

Source

• SunLive
• Image: Stuff

CPAG's criticism of the Government's response comes after more than 60 charities urged them to increase welfare payments in the lead-up to Christmas, which Ardern ruled out.

Progress on welfare reform is being made, she says.

CPAG's wrote its critique of the Government's performance after examining the Government's response to the 42 recommendations the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) made in 2019.

"The Government says it wants welfare reform to enable people to live in dignity with adequate incomes, and it asked WEAG for a plan to achieve this," says stocktake co-author Innes Asher, who served on the WEAG.

Asher says seven of the WEAG's key recommendations have been "partially" implemented.

A further 12 "minimally" implemented. There is no evidence that over half the key recommendations have been implemented.

"Given WEAG found that people receiving benefits are living 'desperate lives' on 'seriously inadequate incomes', the progress on implementation appears unjustifiably slow," co-author Caitlin Neuwelt-Kearns says.

Ardern says she disagrees with "some parts" of CPAGs report.

"For instance, their view is that we've made no progress on the issue of income when it comes to people on Government support. We've always been very open that that is something that was going to take time and I disagree with the criticism of no progress.

"We've had both the [$5 billion] Families Package, we've had the general benefits increase, we've had the winter energy payment [which was doubled this year to $40 per week for singles and $63 for couples and those with dependent children], we ... have indexed benefits to wage increases, which was actually one of the recommendations of the WEAF."

Also included in the package were $60 weekly BestStart payments for parents of newborns until they turn 1-year-old, as well as tax credits for families with dependent children based on income thresholds.

After modelling the Families Package to see how it impacted on the poorest children, CPAG found it wasn't enough to release children and their families from poverty.

CPAGs report accuses Ardern of overstating the Government's progress on welfare reform.

It notes during the TVNZ Leaders Debate in September, Ardern said: "We've implemented 22 of the recommendations so far and we have seen that the changes that we've made have already made a big difference."

CPAG says they haven't all been implemented - instead, they're being worked on.

This was confirmed by Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni, who said work is "currently underway" to address around 22 of WAG's recommendations.

"Hyperbolic claims ... do a disservice to the tens of thousands of New Zealanders who must continue to make ends meet with inadequate support," CPAG's report says.

Ardern responded saying the Government's welfare improvements include spending over $13 billion on the wage subsidy scheme in response to COVID-19 and removing some sanctions from benefits.

Source

• Newshub
• Image: Newstalk ZB