Nats to act on benefit pledges

The Government is poised to implement a key election pledge requiring parents on the domestic purposes benefit to find work or training once their youngest child turns six.

Sickness and invalid beneficiaries are also in the Government's sights, with plans to make it tougher to sign up and stay on either benefit indefinitely.

But the pill looks to be sweetened with the Government pushing out the amount long-term beneficiaries can earn from part-time work before they lose their benefit.

Labour welfare spokeswoman Annette King said she supported the rise in the earning threshold as that would encourage more people into work. But she questioned whether it was too soon to ask beneficiaries to find jobs in an economy that remained weak.

The proposals are expected to be considered by the Cabinet before Christmas, after being put on ice because of the recession.

Finance Minister Bill English said yesterday an improving economy and better than expected unemployment figures meant the time was right to revisit the welfare plan.

In the past month the number of people on the dole had dropped by about 200 a week, he said.

A spokeswoman for Welfare Minister Paula Bennett said there were a "range of measures" under consideration.

Officials now believe unemployment will peak at only 7 per cent – meaning 20,000 fewer people are expected to lose their jobs than when officials believed joblessness would peak at 8 per cent.

National promised during the 2008 election campaign that it would make changes within its first year in office to impose part-time work obligations on domestic purposes beneficiaries when their youngest child turned six.

Other promises included part-time work obligations for sickness and invalid beneficiaries, coupled with more frequent testing to assess their fitness to work.

On September 30, 85,015 people received invalid benefits and 56,384 sickness benefits.

Mr English said the invalid group was being looked at.

"Effectively we have 80,000 people where officially the welfare system has said they won't work again. We think that's a waste of those people and of their potential so we want to look at how to encourage more people off those longer term benefits."