Your say: Work tests for DPB solo parents

Stuff readers have their say on proposals to 'work test' solo parent beneficiaries.

RE: NZ urged to work test DPB solo parents

Feedback (latest posts at top):

I feel very strongly about work testing for single mums, being one myself. I think that they most definitely should be work tested, but that statement comes with conditions. I personally started training to be a lawyer when my youngest was 2 years old, he's now 6 , I've just completed my law degree and will be going into work next year, assuming I find employment of course. As I've said I feel that we should be work tested, and if we can work, then we should be strongly encouraged to do so, but it's a systemic thing. Attitudes to working single parents needs to change- that's a very difficult thing to do when employers are more concerned with productivity and value for money than they are about a 'work-life balance' . Things like part time work, job sharing and shorter hours need to become more accepted in the workforce. Secondly, there needs to be good quality childcare and that childcare needs to be available at the hours that the parent needs to work.
Carla Jones

I would rather see the DPB being completely cut off from women who have a third or more baby while on the 'system'. It is not about work testing by parent quality testing and many of the younger women get pregnant because they have no work ethic due to being raised in a DPB family themselves. If the benefit was cut from a pregnancy dependent on the support of the rest the country, their might be less unwanted, abused children around. Many of these babies are conceived to a drunk mother and raised in an alcoholic environment and these people generally are not fit for work anyway... so how will it change anything? There are genuine needs of women who come from a marriage with children and who do need help adjusting to the lack of spousal and parental support but they are fewer all the time. For many of these women, work outside the home is depriving the young children of the needed home care which is WORK itself. BUT unpaid work generally. There are differences but all are treated the same due to the misuse of the system by the lower intellect, lower society, who continue to scream for more regardless.
Diana

I am a working solo mother and while I agree that mothers should spend the time at home with the children there is nothing wrong with them getting a part time job once the youngest child is at school. This also allows for the mother to get some adult contact.
Maria Harbisher

The current system is too open to abuse. If solo parents actually looked after their kids, fine. But there are too many who use this benefit and act irresponsibly.
Dan McGuire

Yes 'John' phasing out the DPB would be a great idea. Think of the money it would save and we could have more of those huge $20 per week tax cuts. Then we could press gang the children into concentration camps and pick up international contracts doing jobs only their little hands can do. Then we can let all the less fortunate in this country who have had their jobs irradicated by 'economic streamlining' businesses whose bosses (that only like to be identified by their Christian pronoun) want to post bigger nonsensical profits, rounded up and sold to the military to test ballistics and chemical ordinance on. Then we'll have no more dirty poor people cluttering up NZ. I like it!
Jeffrey Kendall

I think this is outrageous! As a solo mum with two children (eight and five), I am outraged by this. Although I am working, that is my choice. It is a FULLTIME job bringing up children on your own and to force people out into the workforce when they are already struggling to keep things together is just not fair. Target the dole bludgers instead leave the mums to look after their children and do the job they are meant to be doing!
Debbie Skinner

Lord knows it is hard enough raising children in a two parent family when both are working. Time spent as a family and doing stuff together is hard to achieve in today's society and the loser is the child, in most cases. However, if a poor solo parent is both mum and dad, after a day at work, trying to do all is impossible. Why do we persecute the less advantaged and make them go out to paid work? Is not being a mother or full time caregiver of a child not a big enough job? Why have we undervalued the care and love of our children? No wonder children are running feral these days as no value is placed on good parenting. I see many parents buy utter rubbish for their children as a redemption of their own guilt about not having the time to give them. TIME is our most precious commodity and the people that should be getting it most of all our children.... not work and our employer - we owe our future generation more respect than we are giving them. Labour Govt 'Working for families' is the worst piece of social engineering that I have recognised. It should be renamed 'working for slavery' to Consumerism.
Nelly Hymen

Excellent idea. Phasing DPB out altogether would be even better.
John

Definitely not. It is high time Society woke up to the fact that parenthood is the most important job in the universe. When Parents are forced to work, that means less quality time spent with their children. Those children often feel unloved and then end up in trouble at school or worse, crime later in life. Not only that, parenthood is a 24/7 job - not an 8 hour work day like most employment.
Julie

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