Source: Radio New Zealand
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Social Development Minister Louise Upston. Marika Khabazi
Newly released advice shows officials urged the government against its welfare crackdown on 18-and-19-year-olds, warning it could actually increase the risk of long-term benefit dependency.
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) also said the tightened eligibility could incentivise teenage pregnancies and keep abuse victims financially reliant on their abusive parents.
In a statement, Social Development Minister Louise Upston acknowledged the “free and frank” advice but said she did not necessarily agree with all of it.
“Our position is very clear: young people should be in work, in education or in training,” Upston said.
“Young people should first be supported by their parents. We don’t believe a life on welfare is as good as it gets for young people.”
From November 2026, those aged 18 and 19 will only qualify for Jobseeker support if their parents earn less than $65,529 or if they can prove they cannot rely on their parents for financial help.
About 4300 young people are expected to become ineligible.
An MSD regulatory impact statement (RIS), published online, assessed the proposed restrictions as being no better than the status quo overall.
While the new restrictions would save the government money, officials said: “in terms of impact on young people and their families, the costs will likely significantly outweigh the benefits.”
The RIS said teenagers who lost access to benefits would also miss out on MSD support designed to help them into work, such as literacy or numeracy programmes. Without that assistance, those teens could be at greater risk of future benefit dependency.
Officials said there was “no clear evidence” that the changes would incentivise young people to enter employment, education or training, meaning they could well just move on to the benefit at age 20.
“This policy does not address any underlying causes as to why people receive a benefit in the first place.”
The report also said some young people might find themselves cut off altogether as their parents were under “no obligation” to provide support. This was highlighted as a particular risk for members of rainbow communities.
“There is a risk that they may not have access to financial support at all if their parents refuse or are unable to support them financially.”
Alternatively, abuse victims could be forced to turn to their abusers for help.
“This policy may result in young people being expected to be financially dependent on their parents in situations where they have previously been subjected to physical, psychological, emotional, or sexual violence.”
Officials said the policy could also increase demand on food banks and other community services, due to the increased costs for young people and their parents.
The analysis highlighted particular risks for minority groups who were more likely to be represented in the benefit system.
“Disabled people tend to face higher costs of living due to health-related expenses and could be disadvantaged if this is not accounted for in the parental income limit,” the analysis said.
Officials also flagged that some young people might be “incentivised to have children to maintain access to income support”, because the new rules would not apply to young parents.
The RIS shows MSD preferred a very different approach: expanding education, training, and skills programmes to help young people into work.
Officials said this non-regulatory option would better reduce long-term benefit dependency by addressing literacy, numeracy, and employment-readiness barriers.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand