Ryan Bridge: We need clarity for disabled teenagers on the benefit

This story about sick or disabled teenagers getting the benefit doesn’t make any sense.

The Government wants to cut the dole for teenagers whose parents earn $65k plus - okay.

Their justification? If poor old mum and dad have to cover their living costs, said teenagers will go find a job.

Hanna Wilberg: Forcing people to repay welfare ‘loans’ traps them in a poverty cycle

The National Party’s pledge to apply sanctions to unemployed people receiving a welfare payment, if they are “persistently” failing to meet the criteria for receiving the benefit, has attracted plenty of comment and criticism.

Less talked about has been the party’s promise to index benefits to inflation to keep pace with the cost of living. This might at least provide some relief to those struggling to make ends meet on welfare, though is not clear how much difference it would make to the current system of indexing benefits to wages.