New Zealand has tentatively introduced a "responsibility" policy with respect to (some) state beneficiaries.
A tough new policy that chops off welfare benefits for people with outstanding arrest warrants has netted more than 2400 cases since it came into force in July 2013. The Ministry of Social Development says it suspended 22 NZ superannuation and veterans' pensions, and 2411 other benefits, in the first two and a half years of the new policy up to the end of last December. Suspensions have jumped from 75 a month in the first year of the new policy to 95 a month in the latest half-year. [NZ Herald]Incidentally, we admire the reporter being right on the cutting edge of social commentary when he or she pronounces that this policy is tough. One has an arrest warrant; one does not turn up and surrender to the police; state payments get cut until you do. That's really, really tough.
The policy was part of a broader tightening of beneficiary obligations in July 2013 which also included drug tests for jobseekers and requirements for beneficiaries to enrol their children in preschool from age 3, ensure they attend school from age 5 or 6, enrol them with doctors and keep up with core health checks.The approach being taken now is that welfare payments are part of a social contract.
