Lindsay Mitchell
lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com
National’s ‘subsequent child’ policy said a woman who has another baby on welfare would still have work obligations when that child turns one. It wasn’t discouraging the habit though because seven years after implementation (in 2019) 6,000 babies were still being born onto an existing benefit.
But a war isn’t abandoned just because a battle is lost. You mount another battle, a different strategy.
Not this government. They simply surrendered, held up a white flag saying, “Have a baby every three years and you’ll never have to get a job
Labour says this is ‘kind’ to mothers who should not be expected to work in the first 1,000 days of their babies life. A luxury denied to mothers who return to work to pay mortgages and taxes. Stuff reported:
ACT employment spokeswoman Nicole McKee, who is a candidate for the party outside Parliament, said Labour was “promoting welfare as a lifestyle option and will harm kids in benefit-dependent households”.
“Many couples wait to start families in order to ensure they can afford to feed, clothe, house and support their children. Those couples who wait and plan are being forced to subsidise those whose lifestyle is dependent on welfare,” she said.
Quite.
But consider this also.
Children born in 2010, whose caregiver spent more than 80% of their next five years on a benefit, would be 38 times more likely to experience maltreatment by age two than those with no benefit history.
This ‘kick-start’ sends children off on a downward spiral.
Most of the mothers having babies on welfare are ‘single’ and disproportionately Maori.
Thanks to Sensible Sentencing Trust research into the sentencing notes of 100 male offenders over 18 who have committed serious crimes- Murder, Manslaughter, Rape, Sexual Assault – we now know that most were brought up by a single mother or had migrated into the care of grandparents or OT.
The Labour/Green ideology does not value stable two-parent families despite aeons of evidence proving they are good for children.
It appals me that not only do they blindfold themselves to the facts but barge off pigheadedly in the opposite direction. And the Children’s Commissioner support for this latest move utterly dismays.
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