“There are 40,000 more Kiwis reliant on main benefits than when Labour took office. The Government shouldn’t be bragging about welfare numbers, it should be ashamed,” says ACT’s Social Development spokesperson Karen Chhour.

“Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni is claiming victory because a fraction of the people her Government has driven towards the jobseeker benefit have gotten off it. She should be asking herself why so many New Zealanders have joined benefits under Labour and how they can get all of them back to work.

“Here are some of the real stats that show where New Zealand is at in terms of welfare dependency:

• 39,495 more people on main benefits than pre-COVID
• 15,663 more work-ready jobseekers than pre-COVID

“The duration of benefit dependency keeps increasing and is a national disgrace. If you’re aged 16-24 and join the benefit, on average you will be on that benefit for on 19 years. The average future time on a benefit has increased by almost two years since 2017.

“Labour just doesn’t seem to want to incentivise Kiwis to work. Their culture of welfare dependency is hurting New Zealand’s productivity, with able Kiwis choosing to reside on a benefit rather than play their part in society and work.

“Getting people off jobseeker and into work during a labour crisis shouldn’t be hard, it certainly shouldn’t be something to crow about when there are still so many more people dependant on benefits.

"There are 98,766 work-ready jobseeker beneficiaries while Trade Me Jobs is advertising 21,569 vacancies across New Zealand.

“The real tragedy is that Labour’s low expectations for beneficiaries is preventing them from creating a better life for themselves and their families.

“Instead of seeing benefits as the solution, Labour needs to get to the root of poverty by growing the economy and fixing our education system.

“Tens of thousands more Kiwis are at the mercy of handouts and Labour has incentivised them. They have pumped up the amount of benefits but haven’t imposed obligations on recipients or tried to grow the economy with the same verve.

“Welfare is about helping people get back on their feet, it’s not a lifestyle choice.”

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