Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Social Development Minister Louise Upston at the announcement that parents earning more than $65,000 must support their 18-19-year-old children, with the government tightening eligibility for Jobseeker benefits. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
Hundreds of teenagers with a health condition or disability could be cut off from the Jobseeker benefit as part of the government's welfare changes, official data shows.
The government is ending Jobseeker payments to 18- and 19-year-olds whose parents earn more than $65,000, saying it will encourage them to find work.
It estimated about 4300 young people would become ineligible for support.
The policy will also apply to young beneficiaries with a health condition or disability who have had to stop work for a period of time or reduce their hours.
In response to questions from RNZ, the Ministry of Social Development confirmed that 2685 18- and 19-year-olds were receiving that Jobseeker Support Health Condition Disability benefit as of the end of June 2025.
It's not clear how many of those individuals have parents earning less than $65,000 a year and so would remain eligible.
In Parliament on Wednesday, Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick asked the prime minister if he was aware that his cuts would impact teenagers "who may be disabled, sick or experiencing severe mental ill health".
Christopher Luxon replied: "When you go on a Jobseeker benefit, you're deemed able and capable of working."
Swarbrick retorted: "You don't understand the question."
Luxon went on to say the government was "unapologetically" sending a clear message to young people that it wants them in work, training or education.
Social Development Minister Louise Upston also defended including those with a health condition or disability under the new policy, saying they were affected by a "temporary condition".
"They will be able to work within a two year period," Upston said. "Our expectation is that they are in further education or training or a job or their parents support them."
Upston expected those with a permanent disability to be on the Supported Living Payment. She said there was also "ability for some discretion".
She said she expected parents to support "all their kids, whether they have a health condition or not," and was surprised there might be an expectation that parents wouldn't do so.
The Greens' spokesperson for social development, Ricardo Menendez March, said the government was "punching down on young people", disregarding whether they have ill health or are disabled in an effort to "simply cut people from income support when there are no jobs".
He said targeting those on the Jobseeker benefit with a health condition or disability was a prime example that the policy was never about "incentivising employment" but about blaming young people for the job cuts the government had led.
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