Ancient Questions & Welfare Futures

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Summary

The Government has once again put questions of welfare into the spotlight. In April 2010, it established the Welfare Working Group with the primary task of identifying how to reduce long-term welfare dependency. Their recommendations will be out early next year.

More specifically, the group were asked to consider how to achieve a welfare system that:

• reduces long-term benefit dependence and gets better work outcomes;
• is fair to both recipients and taxpayers;
• reduces the future liability of the State; and
• is sustainable over the long-term.

These directives, while driven by real socioeconomic concerns, clearly demonstrate that the welfare debate is being framed by little more than ‘populist, political pragmatism’.

There is a lot within this debate for the New Zealand public, including The Salvation Army, to reflect on.