Welfare

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thrifty++
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Joined: Sat May 23, 2015 3:46 pm

Welfare

Post by thrifty++ »

I have recently learned a lot more about Welfare in New Zealand and have been very surprised.

I used to think (or assume I guess) that living on welfare was very much a bare minimum. However, in the past six months I have heard from a number of direct sources, a lot of information to suggest that welfare in NZ is generous. Far too generous really.

I have a friend who has been on welfare (we call it the dole here) for about 6 years now. He revealed to me that he receives about 28.5k NZD after tax a year as a single person with no kids. And that doesnt include all the extras that he has used sometimes. Like getting his car fixed, dentistry, moving house, etc. And he also often gets free food packs from charities. On top of this, he told me that you can earn up to something like $240 NZD before tax per week without losing any of your dole money. Although he doesnt even work part time. But occasionally he works for "cash" jobs where he pays no tax and still gets all his dole money.

He is choosing this lifestyle. Because he doesnt want to work. I get annoyed by his lifestyle choices occassionally but we have been friends since highschool. It has also been eye opening to learn from him just how much money is thrown at welfare in NZ. He spends far more money than I do. Essentially he is living the lifestyle of my dreams except without ever having earned any of it or achieved any of it. The difference though is that he has no safety margin and less options. ie, once I am FI I will have options to leave the country and travel more etc and also have money for major events like major dental issues (that wont be covered by the dole) etc. I mean if i had 28.5k after tax plus other expenses covered plus be able to earn like another say 10k after tax a year, that is a crap tonne of money for someone frugal like myself.

As it so happens I have also come across information directly from other dole recipients recently. I was talking to one woman who was gloating about how although she gets "only 13k" in dole money she has a special Housing NZ house so she pays only 65 dollars a week for her house. Another person I spoke to who is on the dole was talking about how she throws out her furniture so that she can get the govt to buy new furniture for her and that she wants to get a new fridge so she might ask them for one.

Overall, I am quite shocked and surprised at how generous the dole is. On the one hand its nice to know its there as a safety net. On the other hand, someone like me would never see a cent of it as you have to burn through all of your money before you get anything. And I also think its very bad for the country and the economy and our productivity.

What is the welfare state like in other countries I am wondering? What is it like where you are?

jacob
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Re: Welfare

Post by jacob »

thrifty++ wrote:
Fri Aug 12, 2022 1:59 pm
On the other hand, someone like me would never see a cent of it as you have to burn through all of your money before you get anything. And I also think its very bad for the country and the economy and our productivity.
This is not a debate I have any interest in moderating. Topic consequentially moved to politics and closed down.

Add: Discussing personal experiences of living this way, burning through one's money and living on dole, would be acceptable. We might learn something.

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