Benefit receipt
Age differences
Please see the notes below with respect to the effect of benefit entitlement on age differences.
Benefit receipt increases with increasing age from 16 to 24.
Only 1.5 percent of 16 year olds receive a main benefit, rising to 9.4 percent of all 24 year olds. The Domestic Purposes Benefit accounts for the majority of the increase over the age span: fewer than 0.2 percent of 16 year olds receive this type of benefit, rising to 2 percent of 18 year olds and 5.4 percent of all 24 year olds.
The proportion of the population in receipt of an Unemployment Benefit or Sickness or Invalids Benefit is relatively stable from age 18 to 24.
Proportion of people in receipt of a main benefit, by single year of age and benefit type, 2007
Source: Ministry of Social Development.
The effect of benefit entitlement on age differences
Entitlement for benefits varies by age and situation, and 16 and 17 year olds face tighter eligibility criteria for many benefits.
Full details of eligibility requirements can be found on the Work and Income website. In summary:
- the Unemployment Benefit is available to people aged 18 or over (or aged 16 to 17 and living with and supporting a partner and children) who are unemployed and actively looking for work
- the Domestic Purposes Benefit is available to people who are sole parents or who are full-time caregivers to someone who is sick or infirm. Sole parents must be aged 18 or over (or 16 to 17 if they were legally married or in a Civil Union), caring for a dependent child under the age of 18, and not living with or being supported by a partner. Caregivers must be aged 16 or over and caring full-time for someone (excluding a partner) who would otherwise require hospital care, rest home care, extended care provided for severely disabled children and young people, or care of a similar kind. 16 and 17 year olds who apply for the Domestic Purposes Benefit to care for someone who is sick or infirm may also have to show that there is no other person who could provide the care instead
- the Sickness Benefit/Invalids Benefit is available to people aged 16 and over who are, as a result of medical circumstances (sickness, injury or disability), either temporarily (Sickness Benefit) or permanently (Invalids Benefit) unable to work. Sickness Benefit clients aged 16 and 17 are only eligible if they are living with and supporting a partner and children
- the Independent Youth Benefit is available to people aged 16 or 17 who have no dependent children and who are unable to live with or be supported by their parents or anyone else, and who are either unemployed and looking for work, or at school or in full-time tertiary education or training, or temporarily unable to work because of sickness, injury, pregnancy or disability.
