Social Development Minister Louise Upston has confirmed that about 2,700 18 and 19-year-olds with a health condition, injury or disability are at risk of losing their Jobseeker benefit under the government's parental income test policy.

Speaking during Question Time on Wednesday, Upston told the House that as of June 2024, 2,733 young people in that age group were receiving Jobseeker Support in the Health Condition, Injury or Disability (HCID) category. Of those, 69 percent — roughly 1,800 — have a psychological or psychiatric condition. (RNZ)

Green MP Ricardo Menendez March pressed the minister on the figures, asking how many 18 and 19-year-olds were on the Jobseeker HCID benefit and what proportion had psychological or psychiatric conditions. He then raised the case of HCID beneficiaries with cancer. Upston responded that it "doesn't change the fundamental point" and "We don't want them trapped on welfare." She said that for young people losing the benefit, "support should come from their families" and they "should be the responsibility of their parents." (RNZ)

Upston clarified that those assessed as having no work capacity at all would be on the Supported Living Payment, not the Jobseeker benefit. The policy applies to young beneficiaries who have had to stop work or reduce their hours due to a health condition or disability. (RNZ)

The Green Party has called for an exclusion for those on the Jobseeker HCID benefit, arguing the policy could worsen the youth mental health crisis. (RNZ)

From November 2026, the government will end Jobseeker payments to 18 and 19-year-olds whose parents earn more than $65,000, as announced under the policy titled "Securing a future for our young people." In the October 2025 Beehive release, Upston stated that "young people aged 18 and 19 will no longer be eligible for Jobseeker payments if their parents can support them." (Beehive.govt.nz)

An October 2023 estimate put the total number of young people who would become ineligible for support under the policy at around 4,300. (RNZ)

MSD's Budget 2025 factsheet confirms that a Parental Assistance Test will be added to eligibility criteria for single 18 and 19-year-olds applying for Jobseeker Support and Emergency Benefit. The test works like a parental means test: if the young person's parents earn above a set threshold, the young person is not eligible for the benefit. A cabinet paper from MSD confirms the test was proposed to apply to the HCID category, not solely the Work Ready category — meaning it covers young people who are on the benefit because of a health condition, not just those looking for work. An MSD regulatory impact statement dated September 2025 acknowledged that disabled young people and their families may be affected as a result of HCID being included in the tightened eligibility. (MSD) (MSD) (MSD)

The broader context here is one of a growing overall HCID caseload. At the end of March 2026, 96,852 people in total were receiving Jobseeker Support in the Health Condition or Disability category, an increase of 4,440, or 4.8 percent, compared to the same period the year before, according to MSD's Benefit Fact Sheet Snapshot for the March 2026 quarter. (MSD)

Separately, Upston noted in an April 2026 release that 5,580 more people left the benefit for work during the year ending March 2026 compared to the same period the year before. (Beehive.govt.nz)

Looking at the political framing the government has settled on, Upston wrote on her official Facebook page in November 2025: "I'm not willing to accept that a life on welfare is as good as it gets for young people." National MP Todd McClay echoed the formulation in a July 2025 post: "National does not accept that a life on welfare is as good as it gets for young people." (Facebook) (Facebook)

The challenge for the government will be holding that line against the specific cases the Opposition raises. Menendez March's decision to put cancer patients at the centre of the Question Time exchange puts the sharpest possible edge on a policy that, by MSD's own admission in its regulatory impact statement, will affect disabled young people and their families. Upston's response, framing welfare receipt as a trap regardless of the underlying condition, signals the government does not intend to carve out exceptions based on diagnosis alone. Whether the Supported Living Payment pathway is broad enough to catch those the government says should not be on Jobseeker is a live operational question for MSD.