6. Question No. 6—Social Development and EmploymentHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development and EmploymentQuestion No. 6—Social Development and Employment6. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: How many more people are on the jobseeker benefit today compared to September 2017 and how much higher are jobseeker benefit numbers expected to climb according to Treasury's forecast from the Budget?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development and Employment): In September 2017 there were 64299 people receiving a jobseeker work-ready benefit and 56427 receiving a jobseeker health and disability benefit. As at the end of last week which are the most recent numbers that we have there were 98262 people receiving a jobseeker work-ready benefit and 71220 people receiving a jobseeker health and disability benefit. In Budget 2023 Treasury forecast jobseeker numbers to 200600 by January 2025 decreasing to 179200 by June 2027; this is due to challenging global conditions affecting our economy. However at the beginning of the global pandemic Treasury predicted main benefit numbers would rise to 487500. Because of our quick actions as a Government the number of people receiving a main benefit never went above 400000. We have come through the pandemic in better shape than Treasury predicted and while the global environment remains challenging we are still much better placed than we were following the global financial crisis. Hon Louise Upston: With 50000 more on the jobseeker benefit today can she explain how her Government has failed to bring jobseeker numbers down anywhere close to where they sat under the previous Government despite businesses up and down the country crying out for staff over the last couple of years?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I think it's really important that we keep this in perspective. As at March 2023 three years after the beginning of the global pandemic 11 percent of New Zealand's working-age population was receiving a main benefit. The comparison: in March three years after the global financial crisis 12.3 percent of the working-age population was receiving a main benefit. So we are still better placed. Compared to 2017—the same period—we are still seeing more exits off benefit into employment: in the 12 months ending March 2017 there were 58785 exits; in the 12 months ending March 2023 there were 75033 exits off benefit into work. We are prioritising this and always have. We want to support New Zealanders to get into the upskilling and training opportunities and to get into employment and we're seeing that focus actually work.Hon Louise Upston: Does she agree that with the economy now in recession and unemployment forecast to increase her Government has completely and utterly wasted a golden opportunity to reduce benefit dependency and support people off welfare into work?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: No.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does she believe that any family depending on someone receiving a jobseeker benefit should live in poverty and if not when will she lift incomes so that no one in Aotearoa is living in poverty?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We are focused on reducing poverty particularly for our children—but of course the wider impact is for the whole family. We see 77000 fewer children in poverty now because of the actions that we have taken to address income adequacy. That includes consistently lifting the minimum wage. That includes significantly lifting benefits. That includes things like getting rid of two ridiculous and unnecessary sanctions that were having an impact on children. There is more to do and we're absolutely committed to doing that mahi.Hon Louise Upston: Will it be easier or harder to reduce the number of people on the jobseeker benefit now that New Zealand is in a recession and if harder how many more children will be in benefit-dependent homes?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: What makes it easier for getting people into employment is actually investing in the upskilling and training programmes that support them to take up the jobs that are available. We have made record investments in that space including with Mana in Mahi Flexi-wage and the thousands of people that have taken up the Apprenticeship Boost opportunity. Those are only a few examples but that's what makes it easier to support New Zealanders into work.Hon Louise Upston: If the programmes the Minister has just talked about are so successful why are there 50000 more New Zealanders on a jobseeker benefit and why has she cut funding to all of those employment initiatives in Budget 2023?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: As I said earlier if we look at the raw figures it doesn't tell the story in the same way as looking at the proportion of working-age New Zealanders that are on benefit. In March of this year that was 11 percent of the working-age population. Three years after the global financial crisis it was 12.1 percent. We are better placed than we were then. There is still much more work to do and we are committed to doing that work.