5. MOANA MACKEY (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
What reports has he received on the number of young people receiving an unemployment benefit?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
I can report that in December 1999 there were 17,514 young people in the 18 and 19-year-old age group receiving an unemployment benefit. In March this year that figure was 1,566 young people. It is with considerable pleasure that I am now able to tell the House that at the end of May that number was 1,227. That is a massive 93 percent reduction since this Government took office. That success is mirrored by equally impressive results for Māori and Pacific young people. Māori 18 and 19-year-old unemployment numbers at the end of May were only 477—a 92 percent reduction since December 1999. Pacific 18 and 19-year-old unemployment numbers for the same period are now 125—a 91 percent reduction. Let me stress that of the 1,227 young people receiving that support, only 407 have been on an unemployment benefit for more than 13 weeks.
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
As at the end of May 2007, there are 73 Work and Income service centres—that is, more than half the Work and Income service centres in the country—where fewer than 10 unemployed 18 or 19-year-olds receive an unemployment benefit. There are also 26 Work and Income service centres in the country with no 18 and 19-year-olds receiving an unemployment benefit. I know that the member—and other members—will be particularly pleased to hear that the Gisborne Work and Income service centre has only seven 18 and 19-year-olds in receipt of that support. Ruatōria has a very creditable four, and in Kaiti the total is zero.
Judith CollinsWhy is there such a discrepancy between the figures he has just quoted and the official numbers of the household labour force survey data, which show that the number of 15 to 19-year-olds unemployed has actually increased by nearly 4,000, from 24,000 in 2002 to 27,800 in 2007; and is it not misleading to quote only the unemployment benefit numbers, when his own answers to written questions reveal that the number of 15 to 19-year-olds on benefits overall is 13,000?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
There is not. One of the shortcomings of the household labour force survey is that it does not fully capture the range of activities of young people. The question and the answer were quite clearly about receipt of the unemployment benefit, which is the most important—and, indeed, the most costly—measure for this economy.