Jobseeker Support at 18 and 19: the parental test from 2 November 2026

What changes, and when

The Social Security (Jobseeker Support and Accommodation Supplement) Amendment Act 2026 received assent on 3 September 2026 and comes into force on 2 November 2026. It adds a new condition to Jobseeker Support, and to the Emergency Benefit paid in its place: a young person must meet what the Act calls the parental income requirement. Work and Income calls it the Parental Assistance Test.

It covers you if you are 18 or 19 and applying for, or reapplying for, Jobseeker Support. It also covers partners under 20, and a small number of 16 and 17 year olds whose partner is 18 or over. The usual rules still apply on top of it: your own income, your ability to work and your residency.

You do not have to do the test if you have dependent children on your benefit, or if you or your partner get an Orphan's Benefit, Unsupported Child's Benefit or Foster Care Allowance for a child in your care.

The Government first announced this in Budget 2025 for July 2027, and only for single young people. The law as passed starts earlier and includes partners, so older news stories may be out of date. Work and Income says the change generally means that if young people are not learning or earning, their parents are expected to support them.

If you do qualify, the Jobseeker Support rate for a single 18 or 19 year old living with their parents is $276.46 a week after tax at the M rate ($309.65 before tax), from 1 April 2026.

The parental income test

The first way to pass is on your parents' income. You meet the test if the income of your one applicable parent, or the combined income of your two applicable parents, is at or below the limit. Work and Income gives the limit as $67,225 a year before tax, as at 16 September 2026.

The limit is not a fixed number in the Act. It is set as the income at which a couple with children on Supported Living Payment would stop getting it, so it moves when benefit rates change each year. An older Work and Income page still shows the earlier figure of $65,529, so check the current one when you apply.

• Who counts as a parent: a natural parent, an adoptive parent or a step-parent. Natural and adoptive parents are considered first. A step-parent you live with is considered before one you do not.
• What counts as their income: income as the benefit rules define it, including a parent's own main benefit, NZ Super or veteran's pension.
• Which weeks: Work and Income looks at the 1, 2, 3, 4, 26 or 52 weeks before your application that best show what your parents can afford, and works out a year from that.

If you have no applicable parents at all, the law treats you as meeting the test.

The parental support gap test

The second way to pass does not depend on income. You have a parental support gap with a parent if Work and Income is satisfied it is not reasonable, in your circumstances, for you to rely on that parent for financial support. That parent's income then does not count.

The Act says Work and Income must accept a gap in two situations:

• a caregiver was paid an Orphan's Benefit or Unsupported Child's Benefit for you, or
• you were in the care or custody of Oranga Tamariki and are entitled to its support up to age 25.

Those are not the only reasons. Work and Income's examples include a parent in long-term hospital care, a parent in prison and a family breakdown. If relying on a parent would put your safety at risk, the decision has to record that, and that parent's partner is not counted as your applicable parent either.

Decisions are made on the evidence Work and Income has, including what you, or someone on your behalf, give them. If home is not safe, you do not have to prove it alone. A youth worker, school counsellor, doctor or advocate can help you explain and can support what you say. If you are a parent reading this and things at home are hard, the same applies: Work and Income needs to hear the real situation.

If you already get Jobseeker Support

Nothing stops on 2 November. Work and Income says young people already getting Jobseeker Support keep their payments. The test applies when you reapply, at a 26-week reapplication, usually your next one.

The Act's transitional rule adds one detail: the test does not apply to a reapplication made after an expiry notice Work and Income gave you before 2 November 2026. If your letter came before that date, ask Work and Income which reapplication will be your first test.

Two more rules help and bind you once you are on it. At a reapplication, if your parents' income has not gone up since Work and Income last worked it out, you can say so and you are treated as meeting the test. And you must tell Work and Income without delay if something changes for your parents that affects the test, such as a pay rise or a new partner.

If you are under 20 and on your partner's benefit and you do not meet the test, your partner's Jobseeker Support is paid at half the couple rate.

If you are not eligible: other support and options

If you do not meet the test, you will not get Jobseeker Support, and if you are already on it, it will stop at your reapplication. That is hard news, but it is not the end of help from Work and Income.

• Hardship and extra help: Work and Income says you can still apply for supplementary and hardship assistance, and that it may be able to help you into training, education or work.
• The cost of starting a job: the Transition to Work Grant can pay up to $1,500 in total in 52 weeks for things like clothing and transport for an interview, tools or clothing for work, and living costs until your first pay. It is for people 18 or over looking for 30 hours or more a week, and you can be eligible if you are registered with Work and Income as a job seeker, not only if you are on a benefit. Your income and cash assets are looked at, and it does not have to be paid back.
• Study: you cannot get Jobseeker Support as a full-time student, but StudyLink has its own support. Work and Income's page for 16 to 19 year olds also lists training such as the Limited Service Volunteer course, a six-week course run by the New Zealand Defence Force.
• If you have a child: the test does not apply, and Young Parent Payment is for 16 to 19 year olds with a dependent child. Youth Payment, by contrast, is only for 16 and 17 year olds.

If you think a decision is wrong, you can ask for a review of decision. Call Work and Income on 0800 559 009 first, and apply within 3 months of the decision. YouthLaw Aotearoa gives children and young people free legal help, on 0800 884 529.

Finding work either way

Whether or not you qualify, a job is the way through, and you do not need years of experience to get one. Our guide to getting your first job after study covers where entry-level roles are listed, a CV with little experience, the minimum wage and your first tax code. If you do get Jobseeker Support, our guide to job hunting on Jobseeker Support explains what you are asked to do and what counts as job search activity.

Two habits make the biggest difference. Apply steadily rather than in bursts, and follow up a week after each application. Keep a simple record as you go: the date, the employer, the role and what happened. That record is what a case manager may ask about if you are on the benefit, and it shows you where the replies are coming from if you are not.

jobtracker.co.nz has a free CV Builder for a first CV, and its tracker keeps a Work and Income record from the activity you log against each job, by date. The demo opens with no account and shows a job hunt with its Work and Income record: your search activity by date, employer and outcome, ready to print or save as a PDF when you are asked for it.

Whatever the answer, keep looking