4. Question No. 4—Social Development and EmploymentDr VANESSA WEENINK (National—Banks Peninsula) to the Minister for Social Development and EmploymentQuestion No. 4—Social Development and Employment4. Dr VANESSA WEENINK (National—Banks Peninsula) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What steps is the Government taking to support people on the jobseeker benefit into work?Hon LOUISE UPSTON (Minister for Social Development and Employment): The coalition Government has delivered a series of initiatives to support job seekers into work. Recently we established a new over-the-phone case management service for 4000 young job seekers and expanded the number of places for young job seekers in community-led employment programmes with coaching by 2100. We have also introduced work check-in seminars that job seekers must attend within two weeks of coming on to benefit and again after six months. Our Government is working hard to make changes to the welfare system to ensure New Zealanders are able to reap the rewards and opportunities of work.Dr Vanessa Weenink: What are the key features of the community coaching the Minister has announced as part of the Government's Welfare that Works? Hon LOUISE UPSTON: This is our Government's new approach that will see more funding for community organisations with a proven track record of supporting young people off welfare. This will see more young people getting a needs assessment a job plan and tailored support including job coaching to help them access employment opportunities. This programme highlights our Government's commitment to putting young people on a pathway to a better future through work.Dr Vanessa Weenink: Why has the Minister chosen He Poutama Rangatahi providers for this programme?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: Five hundred places for the community-led programmes will be with a selection of He Poutama Rangatahi which was launched by the previous National Government in 2017 for people aged 18-24 who have been on job seeker support longer than a year. We know that 77 percent of participants in this programme are Māori. I am concerned about the increasing number of Māori job seekers. Community coaching delivered through He Poutama Rangatahi will help young Māori improve their employment opportunities and reach their potential.Dr Vanessa Weenink: Why is additional support for job seekers needed now?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: The challenging economic situation we have inherited inevitably means that job seeker numbers were expected to increase until January 2025 before decreasing. We know job seekers are vulnerable to tougher labour market conditions which is why our Government is working hard to make our welfare system proactive in helping as many job seekers as possible in the current economic climate. Even though we have a challenging economic environment our Government will not stand by and allow New Zealanders to languish on welfare and waste their potential. We are acting now to support job seekers into work so they can experience the independence and opportunities that work provides. Kahurangi Carter: Does she accept raising a child is work; if so why do parents face work obligations rather than being allowed to raise their children the best way that works for them?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: We are focused on supporting people off the jobseeker benefit and we want to see fewer children being raised in benefit-dependent households.Kahurangi Carter: Does she accept raising a child is work?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: Of course and there are many parents who work and raise their children.Ricardo Menéndez March: Point of order. I cannot see how that second supplementary was being addressed when the question was whether she considered it to be work. It was very very narrow and she just said that there are many parents that work—that's very very unrelated the actual very narrow content.SPEAKER: No no no. The actual question was does she support" and the answer came "of course" and then with the backup behind that. Ricardo Menéndez March: Speaking to the point of order. Kahurangi asked whether the Minister accepted that raising a child is work. So the Minister didn't address the question because she talked about—SPEAKER: And the answer was "of course". And then an explanation that many people not only do that but also have other jobs."