Election 2020 - Party Policies - Labour and Employment/Welfare - Benefits and Income Support
25th Jul 20, 5:56am
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Benefits and Income Support
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- Income tax rates remain unchanged but 0.55% of the tax paid will be allocated to a ring-fenced Employment Insurance fund.
- On loss of employment the tax-payer can claim 55 per cent of their average weekly earnings over the previous 52 weeks (or fewer). The maximum yearly insurable earnings amount is $60,000.
- The insurance can only be claimed for one week for each five weeks the person has worked, up to a maximum of 26 weeks per claim. Someone who has worked continuously for only one year could claim up to ten weeks Employment Insurance.
- Those receiving Employment Insurance would be expected to look for work and report fortnightly on their preparedness to work and job application activity.
- Make no change to the Supported Living Payment, Young Parent/Youth Payment, or Orphan’s/Unsupported Child benefit. Its changes are focused on the Jobseeker and Sole Parent Support benefits.
- Read more here and here.
- The Green Party supports a Universal Basic Income in principle.
- Set beneft amounts at a level such that benefciary income is sufficient for all basic needs.
- Support the abolition of discriminatory tax credit regimes such as the In Work Tax Credit component of Working for Families.
- Maintain universal New Zealand Superannuation for all New Zealanders 65 years and older, adjusted annually in accordance with movement in the Consumer Price Index.
- The complex social security system should be replaced by a simple two-tier system, with a universal base rate plus add-ons for specific circumstances e.g. disability.
- The stand-down period for unemployed people seeking benefits should be abolished, and unemployed students should be eligible for financial assistance over the summer holiday.
- Reset income support payments to ensure everyone not in fulltime paid work, including all tertiary students, receives a base payment of $325 after tax a week - with a fairer approach to abatement and treatment of relationships in the income support system. Sole parents will also receive a top-up of $110 per family.
- Bring all health and disablity-related income support into a single system based on ACC, with guaranteed payments of at least 80% of the fulltime minimum wage, regardless of what caused a work-impairing condition, or whether someone was employed at the time a work-impairing condition emerged.
- Increase Best Start payments to $100 per week per child and making it universal for every child.
- Replace Working for Families tax credits with a single Family Support Credit of $190 per week for the first child and $120 per week for subsequent children.
- Read more here, here and here.
- COVID income relief payment, supporting New Zealanders who lose their jobs due to the impact of COVID-19, as they find new employment or retrain. The payment provides $490 a week for people who had been working full time, and $250 a week for people who were working part time.
- Created specific programmes to protect jobs in vulnerable sectors like sports, tourism, and the arts.
- Continue overhauling our welfare system with a focus on supporting people into sustainable work, income adequacy so families that depend on the benefit are not living in poverty, and a culture change within government departments to ensure all people are treated with respect.
- Increase the amount people can earn while on the benefit by raising the abatement threshold.
- Read more here and here.
- Get New Zealanders into work with incentives for businesses to hire more staff (JobStart), cash support for Kiwis who want to start a new business (BusinessStart) and incentives to retrain and reskill people who have lost their jobs (SkillStart).
- Ensure our welfare system is a strong safety net that’s focused on supporting and encouraging people to get back into work.
- Reinstate our ground-breaking Social Investment Approach to social spending, to invest in areas that will have the biggest positive impact on social outcomes over the long term.
- Improve the reach of Whānau Ora to communities where it is not yet provided or more difficult to access, so that communities throughout New Zealand can benefit from the tailored support it provides.
- Read more here.
- Introduce the Children and Families Package (previously known as the Universal Family Benefit) by repurposing current spending and streamlining the system thereby also freeing up administration costs to reinvest in families
- Introduce the ability of families to capitalise on their first child’s family benefit payments for the purchase of their first home
- Shift all services for seniors out of WINZs office to newly created ‘Seniors Hubs’ in recognition that Superannuation is an entitlement not a benefit
- Dedicate Housing New Zealand case managers to work with those in social housing to plan their way to home ownership
- Develop a Seniors Housing plan to address the increasing number of Seniors in rental accommodation and requiring Accommodation Supplement support
- Fund pilot programmes such as Hokonui Huanui in Gore and the Wairoa Community Partnership Group to create resilient communities by providing prevention and early intervention services
- Look to implement the recommendations of the WEAG report around increasing financial support balanced with employment support that incorporates incentives for employers to take on trainees, apprentices and new employees
- Resource and support better initiatives with those seeking employment through Work and Income New Zealand so that they all receive a Personalised Employment and Education Plan and support to achieve it – reducing their time on the benefit
- Re-establish Workbridge as the leading employment agency for New Zealanders with a disability to provide greater support for both the employer and employee
- Read more here.
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1 Comments
https://www.top.org.nz/universal_basic_income
The Opportunities Party (TOP) is proposing a fundamental overhaul of the tax and welfare systems in New Zealand to make them modern, simple and fair. This will be achieved by introducing a:
$13,000 annual universal basic income (UBI);
$2,080 annual child universal basic income (paid to parents);
Flat tax of 33% on all income from all sources for all entities; and
Risk free return method (RFRM) tax on assets.
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