Salvation Army Report Should Be Wake-Up Call
new-zealand-labour-party
Fri Feb 12 2010 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Salvation Army Report Should Be Wake-Up Call
Friday, 12 February 2010, 3:08 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
Salvation Army Report Should Be Wake-Up Call For The Government
A damning Salvation Army report showing that children are bearing the brunt of the economic downturn should be a frightening reality check for the National Government, Labour deputy leader Annette King says.
“The report, which shows there are nearly 30,000 more children living in workless households, demonstrates the need for the Government to urgently put a plan to deal with unemployment in place. Something it has steadfastly failed to do.
“The National Government has sat by while the number of people claiming the Unemployment Benefit leapt to more than 68,000. Every day that goes by more people are losing their jobs and the Minister of Social Development Paula Bennett has done little more than collect the statistics.
“Poverty, joblessness and increasing hopelessness amongst young people who cannot find work are serious issues and need real solutions. But under National training places in tertiary education have not increased despite more young people being out of work, the training incentive allowance encouraging women on the DPB into training has been dumped and the much hyped Government Restart package has been a failure.
“The National Government appear to be turning a blind eye to the increasing number of people living in poverty and the implications that has.
“The Salvation Army have described the Government’s activities as failing to ‘put even a dent in the problem and that youth unemployment is a ‘time bomb’.
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“I hope the Government uses this report as a wake-up call that it cannot simply ignore the problems created by rising unemployment.
“What we are seeing is the failure of an economic plan, underscored by the failure of the Government to get a grip on the seriousness of the situation. As late as December John Key was suggesting unemployment would peak at 7 per cent.
“Labour has repeatedly called on the Government to do more to stimulate employment and to raise the cap on tertiary student enrolments. Surely it’s better for our young people to be in education and training rather than languishing on the dole?”
ENDS
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