John, did you see this?

This week in the House, Jacinda Ardern shared the Government’s progress on moving a record number of people off a benefit and into work. 

Here’s Jacinda's response to National’s Chris Luxon:

Over the past five years, we’ve worked hard to support more New Zealanders into jobs. However, we don’t believe that being unemployed gets you a free ride, or that young people struggling to find employment are “pretty damned hopeless”. We know it’s not always easy to find work, especially if you face additional barriers and challenges. 

That’s why we’re proud of the way we work alongside people to help them gain skills, get experience and find work. Whether it’s by helping jobseekers get a driver’s licence, offering free training, or funding mentoring and wraparound support, we’re offering a hand up for New Zealanders who need it. You can read more about this here.

Carmel Sepuloni also talked about this approach in the House this week, and outlined how it stacks up against real world evidence. Check out what she had to say:

Supporting Kiwis into meaningful work is just one way we’re ensuring our recovery doesn’t leave anyone behind. Through actions like our cost of living package, our work to increase wages, and our efforts to lift thousands of children out of poverty, we’re building an economy that works for everyone. 

That’s it from us for now, but we’ll be back in touch with another update soon. In the meantime, you can learn more about how we’re supporting people into jobs and check out the latest numbers here.

Thanks,
Labour Campaigns Team