Friday, September 10, 2004
The Best Welfare Is A Job
It is again Federal election times. Both the government and the opposition are enticing the voters with their proposed policies on a variety of issues. One issue is welfare and taxes. One commonly used strategy to win over the voters is the promise of tax reduction and increase in welfare payments.
The opposition party while promising a tax cut has also attacked the generous welfare system. I thought, this time it is a bit different. This country is traditionally well known for its generous welfare system, derived from the human value of caring and sharing. It is the fundamental value of mateship. Over the years, politicians hungry for votes had developed the welfare system into a monstrous lucrative right. The social stigma of being a socially disadvantage person depending on welfare handout had been transformed into a prized status much sought after by others, in particular, the unskilled and often much under paid workers. The idea of welfare as a social poison is rarely challenged. However, it is also no secret that the oversupply of welfare had created a disincentive for people to look for work. The current tax system is also seen to add to this disincentive. There is always a cost to working and earning an income, but these are always overlooked by the current tax system. As a result, a lowly paid worker at time is financially worse off than his counterpart who stays at home or surfing off amongst the waves and supported by welfare.
The basic concept of welfare is that the system takes care of the disadvantaged and vulnerable sector of the society. However, the generous welfare system had itself attracted people from other sector to fall into this disadvantaged sector. There is now a large group of people citing disadvantage as an excuse for their bad behaviour for not looking for a job. The opposition was quoted as saying “ Long-term welfarism is not the future …… the best welfare policy is a job.” I think this has hit the nail right at the head.
The oversupply of welfare cannot be considered as good economic management. How can that be good economic management when hundreds of thousands of children live in welfare dependent families where neither parents had a job? Apart from those very frail and really physically sick people who truly unable to perform a work, the majority of those able bodied people who depend on welfare for their living must be encouraged to be less dependent on the welfare and to stand on their own feet. This can be done through encouragement in changing the mindset of welfare dependent people, the provision of better training and educational facilities and opportunities, the creation of more jobs through encouragement of investment, the creation of a better investment environment, and the removal of other incentives that discourage people from working. The opposition policy of encouraging people to look for a job or to better themselves in their job must be applauded.
The opposition party while promising a tax cut has also attacked the generous welfare system. I thought, this time it is a bit different. This country is traditionally well known for its generous welfare system, derived from the human value of caring and sharing. It is the fundamental value of mateship. Over the years, politicians hungry for votes had developed the welfare system into a monstrous lucrative right. The social stigma of being a socially disadvantage person depending on welfare handout had been transformed into a prized status much sought after by others, in particular, the unskilled and often much under paid workers. The idea of welfare as a social poison is rarely challenged. However, it is also no secret that the oversupply of welfare had created a disincentive for people to look for work. The current tax system is also seen to add to this disincentive. There is always a cost to working and earning an income, but these are always overlooked by the current tax system. As a result, a lowly paid worker at time is financially worse off than his counterpart who stays at home or surfing off amongst the waves and supported by welfare.
The basic concept of welfare is that the system takes care of the disadvantaged and vulnerable sector of the society. However, the generous welfare system had itself attracted people from other sector to fall into this disadvantaged sector. There is now a large group of people citing disadvantage as an excuse for their bad behaviour for not looking for a job. The opposition was quoted as saying “ Long-term welfarism is not the future …… the best welfare policy is a job.” I think this has hit the nail right at the head.
The oversupply of welfare cannot be considered as good economic management. How can that be good economic management when hundreds of thousands of children live in welfare dependent families where neither parents had a job? Apart from those very frail and really physically sick people who truly unable to perform a work, the majority of those able bodied people who depend on welfare for their living must be encouraged to be less dependent on the welfare and to stand on their own feet. This can be done through encouragement in changing the mindset of welfare dependent people, the provision of better training and educational facilities and opportunities, the creation of more jobs through encouragement of investment, the creation of a better investment environment, and the removal of other incentives that discourage people from working. The opposition policy of encouraging people to look for a job or to better themselves in their job must be applauded.
