Haven't we been over this?

During the 90s the National Government introduced a "work for the dole" scheme, and in short it was a failure.

Fast forward to 2007, and what is the great new policy to come out of the National and Maori parties? Work for the Dole! What else? They both argue that people on the dole need motivation, and need to learn how to work and their "new" scheme will deliver this.

Now while Im all for not letting facts get in the way of a good yarn, I feel it necessary to cast a little reality on this policy. Firstly unemployment reached record highs during the 1990s, so much so that National said unemployment would never go below 6% of the population again, and that it was unrealistic to attempt to better that. Helen Clark was mocked by the media and opposition when she set 4.5% as a target during the 1999 election campaign. Currently New Zealand has the lowest unemployment rate in the developed world (OECD) at only 3.6% only one other country has a rate below 4% and that is South Korea at 3.8%. More New Zealanders are in jobs now than ever before, and since 1999, over 100 jobs have been created every single day. So its fair to say, there is little need for a push in this area.

But of course nobody likes dolescum, do they? So what better button to push? Start by saying that this is a growing problem, especially amongst Maori (ooooo brown people), and say that they are too lazy and need to learn how to earn their living. In theory its hard to argue with it I admit. However the reality is quite different.

What work exactly do you get these people to do? If a job actually needed doing, you would pay someone to do it wouldnt you? So either, you get people on the dole to do a job - essentially for free, instead of someone who would otherwise do such a job, or you get them to do something for the hell of it - which is what happened last time.

If the government gets people on the dole to say empty the rubbish bins down Cuba Mall, well that means the person who is hired to do that now will lose their job - meaning you are extending the problem. The other option is that you get them to essentially dig a hole, re-fill said hole, and dig it again (this actually happened). The effort is better spent on providing actual job and skills training to people and growing the economy so more jobs are created and people can find a proper job rather than steal someone elses (effectively as slave labour), or dig a hole for no reason.

Don't be sucked in by the rhetoric around these sorts of schemes, in theory they sound great, but the reality is very different.