Fair go for families
Let's repair the holes that have been torn in New Zealand’s social safety net, provide independence, dignity, and choices and bring people out of poverty.
Our welfare system should provide effective support for people who need it. Our social safety net should stop families from living in poverty and guarantee a basic, liveable income. That’s what it means to live in a decent, compassionate society.
Punishing people through benefit sanctions, cuts, and investigations has not worked. Rather than giving people ‘incentives’, it traps them in a cycle of poverty and puts children’s wellbeing at risk. Children suffer when the welfare system punishes their parents, and in the long term, so does society.
In contrast, the Green Party’s plan for a simple and stable incomes system will provide parents with the support they need to raise their kids and improve their lives.