Dole system ‘undignified’

Press, 25 January 1988, Page 4

Dole system ‘undignified’

PA Auckland Auckland Trades Council’s unemployment officer says he believes the “real” jobless total is 200,000. Mr Andy Aitkenhead said yesterday that the Government figure of 97,495 accounted only for those registered as unemployed, and hid the real extent of the problem. “There are people like myself who simply don’t register for unemployment for a couple of reasons,” he said.

“If their spouse is working, as in my case, then they get virtually nothing. I applied for the benefit, was told I would get $7.84 a week and a few weeks later I was told I’d been reassessed and had to pay back what I got.

“The other main reason is that people won’t register because the system is undignified, disgusting and disgraceful.”

Mr Aitkenhead said he had a steady stream of complaints about “shocking” attitudes displayed

towards people by Social Welfare and Labour Department staff. “We’re called stinking dole bludgers by a lot of people and are right at the bottom of a very big pit,” he said. “I wish David Lange and Phil Goff would think more about people at the bottom of the pile; some will be there a very long time the way things are going.” Mr Aitkenhead, who lost his job last year, said there was a real feeling of

hopelessness among unemployed. “We’ve got a precarious economy that is being geared to benefit a few and is ignoring a lot of other people,” he said. “When people have been unemployed for six months and longer they begin to feel very desperate.” “It’s no wonder there’s such a high rate of mental illness among unemployed, or that the country’s got such a high suicide rate.”