Back to WINZ in 18 months

Moves to push people into employment are failing, with figures showing almost half of the people going off the benefit returned to Work and Income within 18 months.

A new report into 133,000 welfare recipients reveals one in three are earning less than $1180 a month, and many enter lowlevel training only to remain unemployed.

Partially blamed are work obligations placed on sole parents under the former National-led government.

Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni, who released the report yesterday, said it showed a need for the Government’s Mana in Mahi programme – where an initial pilot is offering 150 industry training positions.

‘‘It’s about making sure that they’re going into jobs that can be sustainable, that will be meaningful to them.’’

The Ministry of Development research, begun by National, surveyed people who left the benefit in the year ending June 30, 2014.

It compared benefit exit rates with a similar 2011 study, finding a greater number of Jobseeker Support recipients found work in a slightly improved labour market.

One in three found work earning $1180 a month, an improvement of 2.5 per cent from the prior study.

But, after 18 months, 45.7 per cent of those who went into employment were back on a benefit, as were 55 per cent of people who left for education or training.

‘‘There was this perception that people were coming off benefit, [but] they weren’t actually necessarily going into meaningful sustainable employment,’’ Sepuloni said.

There was a significant increase in sole parents moving into work, a result of ‘‘work obligations and case management services’’ introduced in 2012.

Sole parents are required to find part-time work when their youngest child is 3 years old, and full-time work at 14.

Of the sole parents studied, 66 per cent stayed in work beyond 18 months.

Those going into low-level tertiary training was of particular concern, Sepuloni said.

Mana in Mahi, launched last month, offers wage subsidies to employers who offer industry training to income beneficiaries.

The Government says up to 4000 places for 18 to 24-year-olds will be available by the end of 2019.

Wellington Hospitality Group (WHG) joined the programme after running its own scheme, and will have six people in work by the end of next week.

WHG people and culture manager Iain Bamber said of the 120 people who entered the group’s program 18 months ago, 70 per cent remain employed.

Steven Gordon, 24, is now a duty manager at one of WHG’s bars after being on and off the benefit.

‘‘[Work and Income] say, ‘go and get work’, they don’t give you the means to get the work ... If they were to roll [out] a programme like this nationwide, you’d probably have half the unemployed you do currently.’’