“It will worsen their health conditions and put people at risk.”
Minister of Social Development and Employment Louise Upston was asked about the impacts of the narrowed-down criteria by Menéndez March during Question Time at Parliament. She said when teens were going through treatments for illnesses like cancer, their parents should be supporting them.
“If somebody is going through cancer treatment, that is an incredibly challenging time. But actually, we do believe, during that period of time, their parents, their family should be there to support them. I would be really worried if they weren’t.
“18- and 19-year-olds should be supported by their parents and when they are well enough, when they have capacity, they should be in training, education or work.
Upston said sick teenagers who could not work could instead apply for the Supported Living Payment. But to be eligible for this payment, applicants need to have been unable to work for more than two years or have a life expectancy of less than two years.
A single person aged 18 or older can get $424.60 a week after tax on the Supported Living Payment.
On JobSeeker, a single person aged 18 to 19 can get $276.46 after tax if they lived at home, or $324.50 if they did not live at home.
The Ministry of Social Development’s testing of a parent’s income, or the nature of teen’s relationship with their parents, would “safeguard” sick 18- and 19-year-olds from low-income households or who had been isolated from their parents from being cut off JobSeeker, she said. The household income threshold is $67,225.
Reasons a person could not reasonably be expected to rely on their parents for support include that the parent is in long-term hospital care, they are in prison or there has been a relationship breakdown.
Menéndez March said the household income limit was far too low and did not exclude families in poverty who could struggle to support their children, especially if they had additional costs from cancer or other illnesses.
“This Government is exacerbating our youth mental health crisis by actively including people with psychological or psychiatric conditions into the tightening of eligibility of 18 and 19s who need support,” he said.
“This is unacceptable, it is callous and the Government needs to change this bill to exclude those very same people, who just face harm.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.