‘Two-tier’ help for jobless defended
A contentious $490 weekly payment for workers who lose jobs due to coronavirus may become permanent as Labour promises to persist with slow-going welfare reforms.
The Government yesterday defended the newly announced ‘‘income relief scheme’’ after it was decried for creating a ‘‘two-tier’’ class system of beneficiaries, as it provides workers who lose their job due to the Covid-19 crisis after March 1 a welfare payment roughly double that of the jobseeker benefit.
The policy has caused ructions within the coalition Government. Employment Minister Willie Jackson, a Labour MP, said he had some criticism of the scheme and was pushing for something else – but wouldn’t say what. Green coleader Marama Davidson said she supported the temporary payments but was concerned about talk of them being built into the system.
Labour’s top brass have vigorously denied claims the payments – which will be given to people for 12 weeks – amount to welfare for the middle class, instead saying it resembles the ‘‘social insurance’’ schemes used after the Christchurch earthquake.
Both Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the finance minister have said a more permanent social insurance scheme – which pays more than a standard benefit for people recently unemployed – is being considered by the Government. Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said such schemes were not new, and ‘‘in some countries you have job loss cover or social insurance that’s paid at a higher rate than what the benefits are to support people who unexpectedly lost jobs’’.
‘‘That’s one model [being considered] but we haven’t settled on what social insurance might look like for New Zealand.
‘‘The welfare overhaul is different from this temporary measure that we’re putting in place . . . The overhaul still continues. But as I’ve always said we would never be able to do everything all at once,’’ Sepuloni said.
Jackson, who is also co-chair of the party’s Ma¯ ori caucus, said he had heard the criticism of the payments creating a separate class of beneficiaries.
‘‘We think it’s fair at this stage, and we’re still talking about it, we’ve got some criticism with regard to it . . . But we want to look after people who’ve been affected by the Covid crisis.’’
Davidson said while the Green Party supported the income relief payments, it showed the jobseeker benefit payments were inadequate for people to live on.
She said people with disabilities who face long-term unemployment had contacted her saying the payment scheme was a ‘‘slap in the face’’.
‘‘We really need to step well away from trying to decide who is more worthy of support,’’ she said.