It's a Very, Very Hard Road--But Right

Dead Beat Men Hanging Around Like Flies

We have been very gratified at one particular note struck in political discourse over recent days by the Minister of Social Development, Paula Bennett.  She is on a mission (not yet achieved) to move people off beneficiary rolls into work.  The opposition has not denied the intent, but has argued that it will fail miserably because there are just not enough jobs "out there".  It is inhuman, the opposition alleges, to move people off welfare on to work when there are no jobs to which one can go. 

As the debate progressed, qualifications crept into the opposition's case.  It was not that jobs do not exist (any glance at a job-seeking website puts the immediate lie to that allegation) but that not enough "decent" jobs exist.  We all know that there are lots of low-skill, low-paying jobs around, but to move people out of welfare on to those jobs is demeaning to them.  They need honourable jobs, worthy jobs that are high paying and deemed socially desirable. 

Bennett's retort has been right to the point.
  She says that she believes every job is honourable.  There is no such thing as a dishonourable job such as working at MacDonalds or cleaning toilets.  That is a fundamentally Christian position.  Every (biblically) lawful job, every lawful calling is holy, just, and good--it is honouring to God Himself.  We applaud Bennett for taking this position. 

The debate has revealed the underbelly of the welfarists.  Fundamentally they are elitists who think that the only really worthy human activities are ones which they would like to do or which they regard as worthy.  Anything less is demeaning and harmful to human beings. Better keep them on welfare benefits doing nothing in the meantime. What offensive rubbish.

Here is an exchange that illustrates the point, as recorded in Hansard:

Hone Harawira: When the Minister talks about young mums going out to look for jobs, does she think young mums should be allowed to go to the front of the queue of the 150,000 people who are already unemployed, or does she think that the young mums should be made to wait until the 150,000 get jobs first, and can she please tell us where the jobs are for the 150,000 who are already unemployed, so that young mums can then get in line for the next jobs?
Hon PAULA BENNETT: The member could look in his own patch, actually. I have a newspaper article here about the forestry industry that is saying they cannot get enough workers because of the drug taking that is going on, and some of those workers are not stepping up and do not actually want the jobs. I was in Kawakawa just a few weeks ago, when I heard about someone who had 19 jobs and could not fill them. Two young women had gone into a job in hospitality in his own patch. Within 3 days their boyfriends came along and told them they did not want to see them working, because they did not want to see them getting ahead of themselves. We are going to back those young women. We are going to back them into work and try to get them off benefits. That member may not think that they are worth it, but we do. (Hat Tip: KiwiBlog)

Right on.

But whether Bennett is succeeds or not is another question entirely.  We acknowledge  that as part of the government's welfare reforms they are targeting young solo mums.  But caring for children and getting into work is a very, very difficult road--albeit, the right one.  It requires lots of support from family, relatives and friends to make sure that the children are well looked after.  Assuming that "daycare" will do the trick is naive.  The government needs to be giving another message out as well--exhorting extended families to stand up and help bear the load.  If the extended family is shot to pieces, go to Bible believing churches and ask for help in raising the kids. 

Moreover, Bennett needs to be saying something in addition to young (and older) solo mothers: your road ahead is likely to be very, very hard.  It is going to get worse before it gets better.  But it is the right thing to do--right for you, right for your children, provided you do it in the right way.  You need to do this not because it is easy, but because it is right.  You will have at least two jobs: raising your children and earning an income.  Both are equally important.  When you come home at the end of the day exhausted from work, your other job begins.  Don't neglect it.  Don't neglect your children--make sure you are a real mother for them.  You will end up working harder than you ever have in your life.  It's not easy, but it's right. 

But Bennett needs to add that solo-mums have a third vital responsibility: your children will need honourable men in their lives. It's vitally important. But don't let any man near you and your children's home who does not have a steady job, who is ever drunk, or who ever takes drugs, or who parties.  That needs to be said loudly and publicly.  Don't let men near you or your house until they prove themselves completely worthy, and offer to marry you and swear to be faithful to you forever in a marriage covenant before you have sex.  Never use sex as a way to entice men: you will reap bitter, bitter consequences if you do. 

The reality is that when a working solo-mum starts to get ahead she will attract dead-beat males like dirty flies.