Social Security Amendment Bill - Closes 11.59 pm 10 January 2025

Submission of?Kym Hamilton - Social Security Amendment Bill

My/our comments

I oppose the proposed amendments in this bill.?

When I was studying in the 1990s, I was a single mother, dependent on welfare payments to support myself and my infant son with food, housing, medicines and transport.? During this period, the harrowing effects of not knowing how or when things would get better and how I would have enough food, nappies, and be able to pay my rent, childcare or get the bus to and from study.? Before becoming a mum, I worked part-time in hospitality while studying.? I knew getting a degree was essential to make a better future for my family.?

Many times I considered sex work and unaliving myself to get out of the stress and worry about not being able to make ends meet.?

Since the 1990s, things have gotten much worse for families forced to rely on welfare to make ends meet. I recall the code of social responsibility (Shipley) and the vilification and moral panic directed at welfare recipients. Not much has changed. The fact that we require welfare is a sad indictment of the society that successive governments have created, ignoring the need for a living wage for all and genuine care for our citizens.? ?

It is not often in the same breath that people note that the highest level of welfare taxpayer money is spent on superannuation, which many people do not need but receive anyway.? If super-annuitants can have a regular non-means tested income courtesy of the taxpayers, why shouldn't this be afforded to everyone?? At a time when unemployment, housing and the cost of living are rising - primarily due to damaging and populist government policies -? where is our care and compassion for the most vulnerable of our citizens??

Many of our people are caught in a cycle of poverty as welfare recipients or as the working poor, and our children and youth are bearing the brunt of this.? We have some of the worst child poverty statistics we have ever had.

I have worked supporting youth on benefits and life planning, and my work experience shows that these programmes, delivered non-judgmentally, have impacted many in securing entry-level work. No one enjoys going to the Work and Income Office, assuming they can get an appointment, and so many are not receiving their entitlements.?

The impact on the mental health of people already broken in and by this system is likely to create a tsunami of health and community support needs that are unable to be met due to frontline funding cuts, budgeting and social service demand - without additional funding.?

Some people have said to me that it is easier to be in prison, where you know you have a bed and a meal, than to worry about life on the outside.? Imagine if that $205k it takes to keep someone incarcerated was spent on caring for them and their family?

This is so wrong in a modern country with significant development and natural resources.? Countries are meant to look after their citizens.? The isolation that often accompanies living in poverty and on welfare means that life lacks any meaning or purpose, and it is hard to see that things can and will change.??

You cannot budget your way out of poverty.? I was fortunate that I was in a housing NZ apartment, which meant that I was better able to manage my poverty at the time - but I never thought that I would have the security and stability of owning my own home - which happened some 13 years later when I had finally repaid my student loan and with support of my family - home ownership is well beyond most families today and I am sure you would get nothing for the $225k I paid for my ex-state house 17 years ago.? ?

The overrepresentation of Māori in the welfare system has been exacerbated by the impacts of colonisation, land alienation, and failure to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.? This bill raises many concerns about bias and discrimination against Māori from WINZ frontline workers.

This bill has the potential to exacerbate, uncover, and create additional inequalities and undermine the well-being of Māori and all citizens.? If people are unable to access welfare and participate in illegal economies, resulting in crime and justice costs to us as taxpayers.

My/our recommendations

Baseline and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of any welfare changes to ensure they do not have adverse health, anxiety and stress impact on welfare recipients (DASS) and a disproportionate impact on Māori.

Investment in year-long empowerment and enablement programmes and support similar to whānau ora navigation with additional funding for transport, housing, food, study, children's activities,? work experience, business development, and community activities.

Support a living wage for those on benefits to enable them to be part of their communities and assist with transport, qualifications, study, and childcare.

Fund uncapped health and education services that assist people in improving their physical and mental health with counselling, therapy, gym memberships, sports, skill building and activity groups.

Increase and improve social procurement targets and policies to create enterprise and employment outcomes for our society's most disadvantaged and vulnerable.

Recognise the volunteer and unpaid work many people on welfare income do for others in their communities, such as caregivers, childminders, sports coaches, school helpers, etc.

Forgive welfare debt, which harms beneficiaries and their families.? Do not punish people with imprisonment and debt repayment, making them pay twice for mistakes in the past.

Genuinely assist whānau with quality, affordable and sustainable housing solutions that reduce transience and stress.

Do not add to the harm to our most vulnerable with proposed and automated 26-week cut-offs to benefits - do not reduce the income level for people who depend on this to stay alive.??

Build more trust in the people working in WINZ and introduce transparency into the welfare system so that people can access their entitlements. Enable families and individuals to have easy access to benefits (especially during precarious probationary work periods) as they move into seasonal, part-time, or full-time work so they do not worry about the impact of probationary work periods on household income and directly benefit from being in work.?

Please find a way for our tax and welfare system to:

1.?? Address hardship,

2.???Recognise the individual contexts of people and their families and

3.???Take genuine steps to facilitate whānau into meaningful, purposeful lives that make sense to them.?

Do not create punitive regulations and legislation that strip people of their humanity and regard.? Legislation and regulations should uphold human rights and dignity.

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