Sometimes in politics it is the singer that matters, not the song. When Social Development Minister Paula Bennett this week announced free long-acting contraception for beneficiaries, it somehow sounded offensive. It seemed to say to women on benefits, "We don't want you breeding". That is probably why poverty activist Sue
Editorial: Contraception plan suffers by association
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The true scale of the problem can be seen in the amount the Government has budgeted for its latest programme: a mere $1 million in a package of $287 million to give unemployed teenagers further education and training. The number of 16- to 18-year-old parents on a benefit is just 1165. The number of 16- to 17-year-olds on all benefits is not much greater: 1400. The women among them will be the first targets of the free contraceptive programme when it starts in July. From October it will be available to all women on benefits and their teenage daughters.
The numbers may not be large but any effort to stop inter-generational dependence is probably best aimed at young women who have grown up in welfare. Ideally they will be able to avoid pregnancy and find work. If they already have a child, the Government has done its utmost to discourage them from having more. They have known since February that if they have another baby while on the benefit they will be expected to take any work offered to them when the child is just a year old.
Free contraception will be voluntary and it is hard to see that it could violate human rights. So long as the devices are reliable and do not have medical risks, they offer better value for public funds than the already available pill that depends on daily use, or one that has to be taken quickly.
There is nothing more celebrated than a baby in most circumstances, but few things more damaging to a teenage girl's prospects of furthering her education and getting meaningful work. The Government's offerings for her training, childcare and the child's early education should help, but delaying motherhood could ensure her a better life.