Left Further Behind - Child Poverty Action Group

clarity and precision (Andersen, Guillermard, Jensen, & Pfau-Effinger, 2005; Andersen & Jensen,
2005). Furthermore, this lack of clarity and precision has been accompanied by a judgement in which
‘active’ citizenship is contrasted with ‘passive’ citizenship. The former is described as laudable and
defined in positive terms while ‘passive’ citizenship is described in critical and negative terms, and is
judged to be both ineffective and inappropriate. The WWG (2011) reports and earlier documents from
Clark and Maharey (2001) incorporate these distinctions, although it must be said that the pejorative
dimensions are stronger in the WWG approach, to which we will return below.
The significance of the emphasis on ‘paid work’ and ‘active citizenship’ in moulding public perceptions
is twofold. First, it represents and reflects a significant political shift in the approach to social security,
income support and welfare. It envisages a limited role for the state while emphasising greater
responsibilities and reduced rights for beneficiaries. Second, and equally importantly in the New
Zealand context, the new rhetoric has been accompanied by a punitive tone 19 and by a set of policies
which have emphasised paid work. These policies have had serious harmful consequences for
children living in households where their carer is not in paid work. Furthermore, in New Zealand,
as illustrated in Table 3.1 below, the WWG (2011) moved beyond ‘active’ to ‘work-focused’, further
removing from view the state’s obligation to provide support for its citizens: 20
Table 3.1. Passive Welfare to Work-Focused Welfare (Source: Welfare Working Group, 2011, p. 57)
Passive welfare Work-focused welfare 20
Focused on the provision of income support
Work expectations, employment supports and
payments reflect arbitrary benefit categories
Limited obligations and low levels of investment
in employment supports
Limited organisations incentives to reduce longterm
dependence
Focused on helping people find paid
employment
Work expectation, employment supports,
and payments are personalised to individual
circumstances
High levels of obligations and support to
secure employment (even prior to receiving
financial assistance)
Strong organisational incentives to reduce
long-term dependence
The focus on the responsibilities of beneficiaries to obtain paid employment rather than their right to
income support reflects an important and fundamental shift in the conception of citizenship and in
the relationship between the individual and the state. Extension of the social rights of citizenship has
been a hallmark of the New Zealand welfare state, and welfare states internationally, through much
of the latter half of the 20th century. However, the last two decades have seen increasing emphasis
on responsibilities, framed within the language of ‘active citizenship’ (Hvinden & Johansson, 2007).
The ‘active citizen’ is responsible for his/her own welfare and the role of the state is described as
‘empowerment’, reflected in greater individual responsibility, rather than on service provision and
enhancement and extension of the rights of citizens.
Anderson and Guillemard (2005) suggest that the prospects and implications of the emphasis on
active citizenship remain uncertain; however, the outcomes of recommendations from the WWG, if
implemented, are not uncertain. In particular, the lack of attention to the interests, position and needs
of children in households reliant on a social security benefit can only mean the consolidation and
19 The punitive tone has not been so much in evidence elsewhere.
20 While the term ‘work focused welfare’ is used by the WWG, it is used in the context of ‘active’ welfare, the word ‘active’
being used in the headings for the next two paragraphs in the Report after the Table.
30