7. Question No. 7—Social Development and EmploymentHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development and EmploymentQuestion No. 7—Social Development and Employment7. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What is the percentage increase in jobseeker support recipients aged 18-24 (inclusive) who have spent one year or longer on a benefit when comparing the September 2017 quarter to the June 2022 quarter and what is the percentage increase in jobseeker support recipients aged 18-24 (inclusive) who have spent two to three consecutive years on a benefit when comparing the September 2017 quarter to the June 2022 quarter?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development and Employment): As at the June quarter 2022 8388 people aged 18 to 24 had been receiving a jobseeker work-ready benefit for a year or more. There were also 4995 job seekers with a health and disability exemption. All up this represents an 84 percent increase from September 2017. Of these 2553 young people had been on jobseeker work-ready benefit for two to three years in the June quarter and 1464 have a health and disability exemption. The total of 4021 represents a 133.9 percentage increase from 2017. The numbers of young people receiving a jobseeker benefit for longer than a year has fallen 7.6 percent since the March 2022 quarter. Alongside this we've seen a 56 percent increase in the number of young people moving off benefit and into work when comparing June 2017 to June 2022. This is record numbers of people moving into work. Since the pandemic began we have seen increased numbers of young people applying for a jobseeker benefit and we have responded by increasing our investment into work-focused case management. Our response is working and numbers of people on benefit are falling each quarter.Hon Louise Upston: Can she explain why at a time businesses are desperate for staff more young people are stuck on benefit long term compared to when the Government took office?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: As I said we are seeing record numbers of young people—record numbers of beneficiaries—leaving benefit to enter into work. The Prime Minister traversed this very well earlier with regards to young people and the impacts that economic events can have on them. They are often the ones that are most disadvantaged. They are often working in the jobs that are first to go. That's certainly what we've seen here. But what we're also seeing is our investment into young people paying off with regards to them being able to upskill and train and take on the employment that is available.Hon Louise Upston: Can she confirm that Mana in Mahi on average has only placed 178 people a year into jobs who were on benefit longer than a year while 13000 young people are currently on the jobseeker benefit long term?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I'm glad she's asked a question about Mana in Mahi. We have seen over 5000 people get work through Mana in Mahi. Our focus is on all young people. I think what the other side of the House did not understand is that there is a prevention component here: get in early with young people and support them into the upskilling and training and opportunities that they need so that they don't end up on benefit or they don't end up on benefit long term. We absolutely believe in the potential of our young people and we're investing in all of them.Hon Louise Upston: Can she confirm that while 13000 young Kiwis are stuck on the jobseeker benefit long term almost half of all Mana in Mahi placements were not receiving a benefit when they started Mana in Mahi?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I am so glad that the member pointed it out. That is the different approach that we take on this side of the House. Those people that took up Mana in Mahi were still deemed to be at risk of long-term welfare receipt. They were still deemed to be disadvantaged during an economic event. We get in there early as a Government to invest in our young people. We certainly don't see them as pretty damned hopeless. We certainly don't see them as bottom feeders and we certainly don't see them as getting a free ride. Hon Louise Upston: Point of order. I seek leave to table a written question answer showing just 14 percent of people on benefit longer than one year started Mana in Mahi.SPEAKER: Has that been published?Hon Louise Upston: No it hasn't.SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that being published early? There appears to be none.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Hon Louise Upston: How many of the 13000 young people if any on the jobseeker benefit longer than one year will be supported into jobs by all of the Government's employment initiatives within the next six months?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I have to say much more under us than would have been under them. When we came into Government the work-focused front-line case management had been declining over a period of years. That investment wasn't there. We don't oversimplify the issues that our young people have. We now have Mana in Mahi. We've got a significant investment in apprenticeships keeping in mind that after the global financial crisis the National Government then cut that investment. We've got things like Flexi-wage. We are working hard with our young people and the results are proving that what we're doing is working.Hon Louise Upston: Does she agree with Jacinda Ardern who said in relation to long-term unemployment that loss of potential and the greatest of wastes and I am determined it will not happen on Labour's watch." and if so why has this Government allowed the number of young people on the jobseeker benefit long term to double?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I absolutely agree with the Prime Minister and what she said. That's why year on year even prior to the pandemic we have been investing in opportunities for our young people. We haven't written them off. We don't stigmatise them. We recognise the complex challenges that many of them have with regards to being able to take up employment and our track record with regards to the investments and the initiatives that we have put in place prove that—including of course the 86 million I believe that we've put into driver's licences recognising that 70 percent of jobs require that people have that driver's licence. That's the type of investment that the previous Government didn't bother to make. We're doing it.Ricardo Menéndez March: Has the Minister seen any conclusive evidence that benefit sanctions towards jobseeker beneficiaries are effective at supporting people into paid work and if not does she agree that using sanctions causes harm to the children and families living in poverty?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I believe that sanctions particularly cutting people's benefits should be used as a last resort. It has overwhelming impacts on families when it is used in a punitive way too easily without actually traversing the circumstances of the families. I have seen evidence to suggest in the UK and in the United States that a punitive approach can actually be counterproductive to supporting people into work. That's why we're not taking the approach that the other side of the House endorses."