This article was first published by RNZ
A kaupapa Māori youth homelessness group says benefit changes will increase whānau stress and push more rangatahi onto the streets.
The government announced on Sunday that from November 2026, parents earning more than $65,000 will be expected to financially support their 18 and 19-year-old children under a new parental income test for Jobseeker and Emergency benefits.
The government said parents who could afford to help their children should do so, instead of relying on the state.
However, Manaaki Rangatahi pou ārahi (chief executive) Bianca Johanson believes means-testing parents’ incomes to determine access to the jobseeker benefit will force more young people into homelessness.
“Rangatahi are going to be even more vulnerable to being put on the streets by their parents when they’re already in precarious, vulnerable situations at home,” she told RNZ.
Manaaki Rangatahi is a Tāmaki Makaurau-based youth homelessness collective that works to prevent and end youth homelessness in Aotearoa through a coordinated, evidence-based kaupapa Māori approach.
Johanson said the changes highlighted the need for power and resources to be shifted to communities, instead of government entities.
“This just shows us even more that MSD is out of touch, the government’s out of touch with what’s really going on and what our rangatahi need and we need to devolve it more to community providers, Māori community providers and to those that are working in employment and training.
“It shows that MSD should not be on every corner in every town.”
At the announcement, Social Development Minister Louise Upston said the policy aimed to encourage young people to pursue education, training or work instead of welfare.
“It’s about having much higher expectations for young people and their families.”
As of June 2025, Upston said over 15,000 18-19 year olds were on Jobseeker support.
“Going on welfare when you’re young is a trap, with recent modelling suggesting that people under the age of 25 on Jobseeker support will spend an average of 18 or more years on a benefit over their lifetimes.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also commended the change, saying benefit dependency was a “tragedy”.
“We care about these young people. We love these young people, but the best thing for them is to make sure that they are either in work, or study, or employment, you know, or in training,” he said.
However, Johanson said the $65,000 threshold showed a lack of understanding of what whānau were facing.
“What about if you’re a single parent and that’s all you’re getting, and you have five other children and two teenagers leaving high school trying to find mahi? That’s not practical,” she said.
She fears the policy will worsen existing pressures on both rangatahi and their whānau.
“This is going to create a lot of stress, DV [domestic violence] and financial strain when whānau are already struggling to put meals on the table.
“We’ll see more rangatahi becoming homeless, and we don’t have the infrastructure in this country to support them.”
Johanson said the changes could have wider consequences.
“We had a government, that before they were elected, were saying, ‘oh, we want to get the ram raids down’ and everything else. Well, look forward to some more criminal activity from doing this because it’s just people having to survive.”
Johanson said there were already gaps in youth housing, particularly in smaller towns.
In Kaikohe, there are about 2600 young people aged 16 to 24, but only around 1000 receive any kind of benefit, she said.
“That means more than half are already not getting any support, not because they don’t need it, but because they can’t stand being in that system.
“Now that might make people like Christopher Luxon and the National Party really happy for saving a buck, but what are these young people doing to survive, and what does that say about us in Aotearoa in terms of how we treat our young people?”
Johanson said many young people already avoided Work and Income out of fear or frustration.
“A lot of rangatahi that go in alone barely make it up the front and get served by the receptionist or acknowledged for what they’re coming in for. That’s for housing or support with housing, let alone having someone beside them to help sort through benefit issues. It’s incredibly bureaucratic.”
Instead of “punishing young people,” Johanson said the government should create a plan to support them.
“Instead of coming out with a sanction, why don’t you come out with a plan? A plan about how you’re going to support our rangatahi - especially our rangatahi Māori, who have some of the highest unemployment rates per capita,” she said.
“Why not subsidise wages or create apprenticeships in government departments? Hire them. Give them a chance.”
Luxon told Morning Report on Monday there were jobs available for young people, and if they could not find a job they should go into further education and training.
“They do have jobs. Often what happens is the people will take a job, they don’t stick with it for longer than a couple of days, they don’t show up on time.”
Upston told Morning Report while the job market was “challenging”, it was starting to improve, with Treasury forecasting an additional 240,000 jobs over the next four years.
“We recognise it can be challenging but we want more for our young people.”
But Johanson believed this did not reflect the realities of rangatahi and the discrimination they face when applying for mahi.
“They don’t even get the courtesy of an email back. Most don’t hear anything.
“If rangatahi are staying on the jobseeker benefit for long periods, that’s not their dream or desire. They want to have families, be successful, create wealth, get educated, but it’s really difficult to expect people to do that on their own.”
Johanson said rangatahi wanted mahi that gave them purpose and “that makes them feel proud”.
“Rangatahi face a lot of bias because they don’t have the experience of older people. We need to create equal opportunities for them to enter the workforce.
“In Australia, they have apprenticeships for everything, even being a receptionist. We need to bring that thinking here.”
She said the policy failed to consider how few jobs exist in rural areas.
“I’m thinking about places where rangatahi live, and there’s a real lack of jobs in our rural areas. Not every area has an abundance of employment, especially for those starting out in their working life. What will happen to those rangatahi?”
Johanson fears the answer will be more rangatahi slipping through the cracks.
“This is going to have fallout,” she said.
“We’re going to see more rangatahi on the streets... and we don’t have the places or safe spaces for them to go.”
By Layla Bailey-McDowell of RNZ