Teens fear homelessness thanks to 'unfair and punitive' Jobseeker cuts

A new parental assistance test cutting Jobseeker support for some 18- to 19-year-olds has some teenage beneficiaries worried they could become homeless.

It follows figures for the September quarter showing unemployment has risen to 5.7 percent, 174,000 people are unemployed, 3000 more than the previous quarter. The number of 15- to 19-year-olds not in employment, training or education is up to 25.2 percent.

Under the new parental assistance test, 18- to 19-year-olds are cut off from support if their parents earn $67,225 combined. It's raised concerns already struggling households will become overwhelmed and vulnerable rangatahi will be forced into unsafe environments.

Applying for hundreds of jobs but getting only one interview

Nineteen-year-old Ben Edmonds said he didn't want to be on the Jobseeker benefit, but he didn't have a choice. He had applied for hundreds of jobs across Tāmaki Makaurau from casual to full-time.

"None of them have got back to me. I think getting on the Jobseeker at this young age [really] helps."

Edmonds lives away from home. After his weekly rent, power, Wi-Fi, food and phone bill was all paid, he said he was left with around $50. He said there's a misconception that young people don't want to work.

"For myself, I reckon I was born to work, not born to sit at home and make money for free."

"I reckon earning money the right way is better for myself."

His friend Amiel Porter was in the same boat. Porter had been taking his CV into shops and local businesses but hadn't had any luck.

"It kind of makes you sick of applying in a way, you're constantly looking for something that doesn't come your way."

It was a similar story for 19-year-old Ducati Haumaha.

"Even getting a job interview is difficult. With all the searching I've done over the past year, two [years] even... I've only managed to get one."

Concerns more young people may become homeless

The three 19-year-olds were taking part in Mā Te Huruhuru's Te Whare Mārama, a work readiness programme that supports rangatahi with interview skills and getting their driver's licence.

Te Kou o Rehua Panapa, leader of Mā Te Huruhuru's homelessness outreach team, said changes to Jobseeker eligibility will put vulnerable rangatahi into more precarious situations. He also fears the changes will push more young people on to the streets.

"Some are as young as 13, that we've just worked with."

"For an 18- to 19-year-old who has nowhere to sleep, no relationship with their parents and no reliable income, placing additional eligibility hurdles in front of them can make a difficult situation even worse."

He said more pressure will be placed onto whānau.

"With the cost of living, $67,000 that's a whole lot of nothing when you look at the cost of rent, food. It's putting our taitamariki at risk of becoming more vulnerable."

Minister of Social Development Louise Upston told Checkpoint the threshold is set at the income for a couple getting the Supported Living Payment and will be adjusted annually. Where parental support isn't available or cannot reasonably be relied on, young people will still be eligible for support. Upston said she didn't want anyone excluded from a brighter future for New Zealand.

But it's the immediate future most young people were worried about. Nineteen-year-old Ella Hough lived alone and said the only thing on her mind is how she will make ends meet if she isn't eligible for Jobseeker support.

"It's going to be really hard and what's going to happen when we're not getting paid and we've got to pay rent?

"Where are we going to go?"

More pressure on whānau and vulnerable rangatahi

Child Poverty Action Group's Isaac Gunson said because the combined annual income threshold of just over $67,000 is so low, more whānau will fall below the poverty line.

"Young people aren't choosing to be unemployed right now. The jobs just simply aren't there. What we really should be doing is finding ways to support them in secure work and further education."

"Not tell them that the taxpayer owes them nothing because of what their parents earn, which is already not enough to support, potentially three adults on."

He said the changes will also place some rangatahi at greater risk of harm.

"What these changes will do is force young people who are in an abusive or unsafe home situation to continue to be dependent on parents who they may otherwise need to get away from for their own personal safety."

University of Auckland professor in child and adolescent mental health Terryann Clark said more young people are having to stay home much longer after finishing secondary school. She said this can place strain on families and family relationships.

"We also know that this is a time where you're wanting to be independent and you're wanting to go off and do your own thing. If you can't financially do that, it doesn't allow young people to grow up and do the things that they are supposed to do."

"At 18, you can vote. At 18, you can go to war. But somehow, we're still means tested against our parents' income if we want to live independently. It's incredibly unfair and punitive."

Clark told Checkpoint there's no evidence that sanctions on young people improve their employment opportunities.

"What does improve young people's employability is making sure that schools are safe and supportive. Not every kid is going to be an academic. So, we need pathways that support young people and keep them in school."

"If they don't want to be in school, then there needs to be supportive employment opportunities. There needs to be wage subsidies on the job training like apprenticeships for a range of jobs, like nursing."

Mental health support and advocates were needed so young people weren't at risk of exploitation, she said.

"Too many young people are expected to tolerate poor employment practices because they are desperate for work and they just want to be able to work and to learn and to make a decent living."

Support available through the Ministry of Social Development for 18- to 19-year-olds who don't qualify for Jobseeker includes work-readiness programmes, Driver Licence Support, Flexi-wage and Mayors Taskforce for Jobs.