Beneficiary Enlightenment

Good Things Coming Out of Bad

In New Zealand we have a perpetuating state beneficiary problem.  The "welfare state" commenced in the early 1930's and has now grown to a gargantuan monster.  We have people that are preceded by three generations of lifetime welfare beneficiary dependence having never worked in paid employment all their lives.  This latest generation are continuing to walk in the footsteps of their fathers and mothers, living off the benefit. 

The government has introduced a "back-to-work" policy that requires welfare beneficiaries actively to look for work, make applications for jobs, proceed to interviews and so forth.  If they do not, they will face cuts in their benefits.  The reflexive response from the Left, which believes there is never any shortage of other people's money, decries this as "beneficiary bashing". 

We are sure that the new programme will have all the normal lacunae and weaknesses.
  Bureaucratic rules always do damage at the edges to some people with circumstances out of the ordinary.  We are also aware that beneficiaries will exercise great skill and inventiveness in gaming the system in their favour (such as getting mates to "advertise" pseudo-positions, just so that applications can be made, interviews "attended" and rejection letters or notices to be sent; meanwhile the beneficiary in question meets the criteria for full welfare funding.) 

But every so often we see some benefits accruing and some progress being made.  For a certain class of beneficiaries the requirement to look for a job and an official expectation that they will get one, coupled with the threat of having welfare payments cut has been sufficient to push them into paid employment.  Six months on they are enthusiastic about their jobs, glad to have broken free, bearing a new demeanour of self-respect, and vowing they never want to "go back".  Work is usually civilising.  It is usually meaningful activity.  It can and should be liberating. It is a profoundly human activity.

The other day we came across a younger person whose attitude was quite startling.  She was overweight, tattooed and pierced.  She was probably a young mother, in her early twenties.  She was in some consternation because she had lost access to a car to get her to and from work.  She said, "I don't want to be fired.  'They' have said that if we do a good job, it may lead to other, more permanent work."  She was working shifts at the Census Helpline, from 3pm to 11pm.  Her eagerness to succeed, to keep her job, and move on to the next one was palpable and contagious. 

We were bold enough to assure her that she was no doubt doing well, and that her service was really important. She then went on to tell us about the language and grief she had experienced from callers to the Helpline.  Despite this she clearly did not want to quit.

Her attitude would have made our parents proud--they who constantly lectured us about the importance of hard work, and who walked the talk every day of their lives.  Having lived and struggled through the Depression, work was a sacred privilege.

The upshot is that some good things can come out of government initiatives that are intrinsically flawed, provided the intent is ethical and the execution is as sensible and practical as possible.