“From September 27, DPB claimants whose youngest child is six will have to be available to work at least 15 hours a week.
Failure to comply will see their benefit cut by half, but they will retain additional assistance.
Exemptions will be available for those in fulltime study or with mitigating circumstances such as special-needs children.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3498073/Unemployed-face-work-tests
We welcome your comments.
We are asking for homeschooling to be considered mitigating circumstances.
Please join us in emailing Paula Bennett . Her email address is paula.bennettmp@parliament.govt.nz
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Update
The reply from our email so far:
Hello Tarnya
The Hon Paula Bennett, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has asked me to thank you for your email.
Consideration is currently being given to the matters you raise and you may expect a reply at the Minister’s earliest opportunity.
Kind regards
Nicky Uriaro
Private Secretary, Office of Hon Paula Bennett
Minister for Social Development and Employment | Minister of Youth Affairs
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the email we sent:
Good Morning Paula Bennett
We ( National Council of Home Educators www.nchenz.org.nz) request thathomeschooling be considered as mitigating circumstances in regard to the work requirements for DPB claimants. We request that a home educating parent who holds, for their child/ren, an exemption from attendance at a public school also be issued an exemption from these work requirements.
We submit to you that a home educating parent is involved in full-time work, albeit unpaid.
“We understand that exemptions will be available for those in fulltime study or with mitigating circumstances such as special-needs children.”
from
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3498073/Unemployed-face-work-tests
Regards
Penny Bilton, Tarnya Burge Maddy Maxwell, Dawn Jones and Michelle Campbell
NCHENZ executive committee
Thanks so much for doing this – it makes a lot of sense for homeschoolers to continue with what they are doing, both in terms of the outcomes for their children and the savings for taxpayers. The extra cost to the government of forcing a homeschooling single mother into full time work, if she has three school-aged children, adds up to $12,000 per year, with all factors (including tax paid) taken into consideration. Mitigating circumstances, definitely.
Hi Chrissy, is the email above the one you sent to Paula Bennett? Have you left out the emotional side of ‘children having to go to school’ on purpose, i.e. a politician would not be interested in that? Its all about money for them and your email is reflecting this? Also, have you had any response either from P Bennett’s office or from other homeschoolers?
Regards from Chch, Annemieke
Hi Annamieke,
I am working on an email for the AHE co-ordinator to send to Paula on behalf of Auckland Home Educators Inc. Would you like me to add anything into it which could help? I am thinking of including my above comment into the email, perhaps with a more detailed breakdown of the actual costs of forcing homeschooled children back into the schooling system as a side effect of this DPB policy change. Anyone else keen to contribute to this submission? Please?
Hi Chrissy, following is the email I sent to Paula Bennett recently:
“I believe you are currently reviewing the above and ask that you consider homeschooling mothers who receive the DPB as having MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES. This group of mothers generally are totally dedicated to their children’s education and do a fantastic job of educating their children. If they are to be work tested there will be a number of children having to go to school at a cost of $4000 per child per annum. Financially this does not make sense as you may be saving some money on paying out DPB but spending it on education for the children. Emotionally this does not make sense as these children often have very good reasons for being homeschooled such as having been bullied, not fitting in or doing very well in the system, hearing problems esp in a noisy classroom etc. Please, PLEASE for the sake of these homeschooled children and their mothers, consider them to have MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES and allow them to continue their homeschooling! Yours sincerely, Annemieke de Jong”
Hope this helps! Let me know how you get on, regards
Recently published article “Welfare cuts will hit homeschoolers”
posted here (http://www.tewahanui.info/wordpress2/?p=3417)
on 4 June.
It states
“…ONLY single parents who are home educating in “significantly restricted circumstances” – such as living far from a school, or teaching a special needs child – will be excused from finding work.”
“…A spokesperson for Paula Bennett says there is now a difference between “those who choose to homeschool out of preference and those who homeschool out of necessity”.”
Sounds like they have made a decision.
:0(
Thank you for posting this.
We can still make submissions to the working group
http://ips.ac.nz/WelfareWorkingGroup/Contact.html
which makes a report to Government in December