The feature article examines the upcoming changes to Jobseeker Support for young people. The Social Security (Jobseeker Support and Accommodation Supplement) Bill introduces a “parental assistance test” for applicants aged 18 and 19 years’ old. People whose parents collectively earn over $67,225 per year before tax and can be “reasonably expected” to rely on their parents for financial support will be ineligible for Jobseekers. We discuss why means-testing 18- and 19-year-olds for Jobseeker Support is a bad idea. We also set this proposed change in the context of the government’s other welfare policy reforms, which have created a more punitive and miserly support system.
In our regular updates, we examine the latest price, economic, and government accounts data. We’ve also added a set of quick reference graphs to the Labour Market Dashboard, at the front of the Bulletin. For detailed discussion of the March quarter employment and wage data, see the March/April Bulletin. The next set of comprehensive labour market and wage data will be released in early August.
In case you missed it: earlier in June we released the NZCTU’s Workers’ Analysis of Budget 2026, where we dig into the government’s major spending and revenue decisions and what they mean for working people.
