Work schemes wanted until economy improves

Press, 26 January 1988, Page 1

Work schemes wanted until economy improves

Government-funded work schemes need to be reintroduced or the dole increased until opportunities for employment improve, says the Christchurch Employment Network. The network was responding to Labour Department statistics released by the Government which show that the jobless in Christchurch exceeded 10,000. If the Government was not prepared to help the hard-hit manufacturing industry, which provided a productive economic base, then it needed to provide subsidised work, or increase the benefit payments to that of a minimum living wage until economic conditions improved, said one member, Ms Jan Andrews. Work schemes could work better than in the past, if properly organised, she said. “I would dispute the excuse there is not enough money to support work schemes. It’s more

a question of how that money is distributed.

“The Government seems to be waiting for inflation to drop in the hope that will save us all, but in the meantime, how many more people will their policies destroy?” Telling people to move to where the jobs were, was impractical for many people, particularly those who lived in the South Island, Ms Karen Moses, a member of the centre, said. Unemployment would continue to rise in the worst-hit areas, which was why there was a need for Government-funded regional development. The social cost of unemployment on society was already huge because of the costs in dealing with the resulting problems such as crime, drug and alcohol abuse, child abuse and psychiatric care, Ms Andrews said. In spite of this the Government was unwilling to say how

high it was willing to let unemployment climb. A worrying trend was the increasing number of older people as well as school leavers finding it difficult to find employment, another member, Mr Mike Southerwood, said. Those aged in the 40s who had been made redundant, found it particularly difficult to get jobs again as they were often seen by employers as “unemployable.” The high number of jobless in Christchurch was not surprising, but was probably a conservative estimate, Mr Southerwood said. If unemployment continued to rise, the Government should also be willing to try and change society’s attitudes to those on the dole, Mr Southerwood said. A Department of Social Welfare survey last year found that fraud amounted to only 2 per cent of its total payments, so the idea that abuse was rampant was an

“affront to the unemployed.” The Minister of Employment, Mr Goff, has said neither a return to “expensive and unproductive make-work schemes” nor a relaxation of Government policies aimed at reducing inflation and making the economy more competitive would assist in reducing unemployment in the present circumstances. 0 The number of people receiving the unemployment benefit in Christchurch rose 1405 from the end of November to the end of December last year. On December 31, 9100 people were receiving the unemployment benefit or emergency unemployment benefit. A month earlier the total number had been 7695. The total number of people in New Zealand receiving either benefit was 87,812. Further report, cartoon, page 2.