The Labour Party is calling for the Government to consider
paying unemployment benefits to laid off workers even if
their partners are on high incomes.
Labour leader Phil Goff said the measure would be temporary
and was aimed at taking the pain out of increasing
unemployment during the recession.
"You are not talking about people bludging off the system,"
Mr Goff told the New Zealand Herald.
"You are talking about people who have often never been
unemployed in their lives but lose their job through no fault
of their own."
Unemployment is forecast to rise as high as 180,000 by late
next year.
Mr Goff criticised as inadequate the Government's ReStart
programme. It provided short-term support to low- to
moderate-income families with children and to people with
high housing costs who have been made redundant since the
election.
He suggested the requirement that a spouse's income be
means-tested be suspended, if only during the recession.
The suspension would be dependent on an individual having
previously been in employment for a set period -- for example
five years.
The payment would recognise previous taxes paid and give time
to adjust to not having a wage and avoid losing the family
home.
Labour previously promised a job search allowance for people
who lost their job regardless of their partner's income.
That promise was criticised for being too limited and poorly
targeted as entitlement was restricted to just 13 weeks
without means-testing unless the person went into training.
Mr Goff said Labour was now looking at extending the 13 weeks
to a "reasonable period of time", possibly for as long as a
year. He emphasised that the party had yet to fully cost the
potential policy change.
At present, anyone with a partner earning more than $534 a
week cannot get even a partial benefit.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said that under Mr
Goff's proposal, someone could be eligible for a benefit for
up to a year while their spouse earned $200,000, for example.
"I doubt many Kiwis would consider that a good use of the
considerably fewer resources this Government now has. I'd be
interested to hear what Mr Goff would cut, or which taxes he
would put up, to fund such an initiative."
