Key question

• Why are 7.6% of 18-24 year-olds on Jobseeker Support benefits, when the official unemployment rate is at 3.3%? (Both were 4.8% in June 2017).

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Full data
Please contact us if you would like the full analysis.

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Other forms of social welfare not included in this data

• Supplementary Assistance:
  • Special Benefit (SPB) or Temporary Additional Support (TAS)
  • Disability Allowance (DA)
  • Accommodation Supplement (AS)
  • Unsupported Child’s Benefit (UCB) and Orphan’s Benefit (OB)
• Hardship Assistance:
  • Special Needs Grant (SNG)
  • Advances (ADV)
  • Recoverable Assistance Payment (RAP)
    (the assistance above includes the following reasons: Food, Accomodation Related, Medical and Associated Costs, People Affected by Benefit Stand Downs, Electricity and Gas, School Education Costs, Re-establishment Grants, Driver Licence, Health Related, Long-Acting Reversible Contraception, Emergency Housing Grant, Other)
• Civil Defence Payments
• Working For Families tax credits:
  • Family Tax Credit
  • Minimum Family Tax Credit
  • In-work Tax Credit
  • Best Start
• Paid Parental Leave

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Definitions from Work and Income

• Jobseeker Support is a weekly payment that helps people while they are looking for work or can’t work right now.
• Sole Parent Support is a weekly payment that helps single parents find part-time work or get ready for future work.
• Supported Living Payment is a weekly payment to help you if you have, or are caring for someone with a significant health condition, injury or disability meaning that suitable work is unlikely within the next 2 years.
• Other Main Benefits:
  • Emergency benefit – If you can’t support yourself and don’t qualify for any other payment, you may be able to get the Emergency Benefit.
  • Emergency Maintenance Allowance is assistance that may be paid to sole parents who do not qualify for any other payments.
  • Jobseeker Support Student Hardship (no definition given)
  • Widow’s Benefit Overseas (no definition given)
  • Youth Payment helps young people aged 16 or 17 who can’t live with their parents or guardian and aren’t supported by them or anyone else. (Not included in the 18-24 year-old data in the graph above).
  • Young Parent Payment helps young parents aged 16-19 year olds.
  • Sole Parent Support Overseas (no definition given)
  • New Zealand Superannuation is a fortnightly payment for people aged 65 and over. (Not included in the 18-24 year-old data in the graph above).
  • Veteran’s Pension is a fortnightly payment for veterans who have qualifying operational service in the New Zealand Armed Forces. (Not included in the 18-24 year-old data in the graph above).

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Other notes

• All publicly available data has been included.
• The December spikes in Other Main Benefits are due to spikes in Jobseeker Support Student Hardship in December quarters of each year.
• Jobseeker Support includes:
  • Jobseeker – Work Ready
  • Jobseeker – Health Condition or Disability
• Supported Living – Caring includes:
  • Supported Living – Caring
  • Supported Living – Health Condition or Disability
• There isn’t yet a population estimate for June 2022, so we applied the same 750 18-24 year-old population decrease from December 2021 to March 2022, to March 2022 to June 2022.
• All numbers are provisional and subject to revision.

Thank you to the Factors who helped pull this together.

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Sources

• Benefits by age group over the last 5 years
  https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/index.html > https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/2022/quarterly-benefit-fact-sheets-work-and-income-regions-tables-june-2022.xlsx (Main benefits-last 5 years)
• Other Main Benefits, Supplementary Assistance, Hardship Assistance, Civil Defence Payments
  https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/index.html > https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/2022/quarterly-benefit-fact-sheets-national-benefit-tables-june-2022.xlsx
• Definitions https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/index.html#j

Data published by Ministry of Social Development
(c) Crown Copyright
Licensed for use under the creative commons attribution licence (BY) 4.0

• NZs population
  https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/ (Population > Population Estimates – DPE > Estimated Resident Population by Age and Sex (1991+) (Annual-Mar)/Jun/Sep/Dec)
• Unemployment rate
  https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/unemployment-rate/

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ’s data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

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