Lifewise welcomes alternative group’s call to raise welfare benefits

The community and social services agency Lifewise backs the Alternative Welfare Review Group’s call for the Government to raise welfare benefits substantially. Lifewise general manager John McCarthy says the alternative group’s detailed report, Welfare Justice for All, sums up the reality that many people are struggling under the existing benefits.

“Even keeping benefits at their current levels makes it almost impossible for many people to maintain the basic necessities of life,” says Mr McCarthy. “Lifewise’s services include helping homeless people get off the streets and into long-term housing, but once they’ve paid rent out of their benefit they’re left with about $40 a week to cover all other living costs.

“At a time when we’re trying to end homelessness, our clients tell us that the struggle to maintain themselves on a benefit means they would find it easier to return to the streets. That is not the right solution for them or for anyone in our society struggling to meet basic needs.”

Mr McCarthy says there is a great deal of uncertainty for beneficiaries, which is having a negative effect on people’s well-being, especially those living with long-term mental health and disability issues.

“We need to move away from the ‘blame game’ – making beneficiaries the scapegoats for New Zealand’s woes. Blaming beneficiaries for this reliance fails to recognise that many people in our community are supported by government assistance in a wide variety of ways. It also increases the sense of shame and despair experienced by many beneficiaries.”

Mr McCarthy says Lifewise agrees with the alternative group’s conclusion that New Zealand’s welfare system should not focus on reducing dependency – instead, it should reflect the importance of people’s interdependence and reliance on each other.

“We’re all reliant on each other to get by, especially in times of need,” he says. “New Zealand should be proud of the fact that it has a welfare system, but we need to make it work better to improve the well-being of those who rely on it.”

Mr McCarthy says the alternative group’s report gives the other side of the welfare debate and is likely to be a focus of discussion when the Government's Welfare Working Group releases its next report in February.

The Welfare Justice report was written by Mike O’Brien, Sue Bradford, Paul Dalziel, Māmari Stephens, Muru Walters and Wendi Wicks and commissioned by the Beneficiary Advocacy Federation of New Zealand, the Catholic social justice agency Caritas and the Anglican Church’s Social Justice Commission.

ENDS

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