LINDSAY MITCHELL: Officials warn: "...some young people may be incentivised to have children to keep access to income support."
- Administrator
- Nov 24, 2025
- 2 min read
This morning NewstalkZB reported officials warning, in a Regulatory Impact Statement about the government's policy to block teenagers accessing Jobseeker benefits from next November, "...some young people may be incentivised to have children to keep access to income support."
This is a distinct possibility given the existing habit of treating children as meal tickets.
A similar incentive operates when a parent is required to find a job when their youngest child reaches a prescribed age. Ensuring the youngest is always under that age relieves the parent of an unwanted responsibility. The last National government endeavoured to prevent this evasion with their 'subsequent child policy' but Labour duly repealed it on becoming government.
But what is the alternative bureaucrats want, given their warning? That 18 and 19 year-olds should continue to be given Jobseeker as some form of contraceptive??
The corollary to their warning is, "...some young people may be incentivised to have children to gain access to income support."
That would also be an entirely fair and accurate assessment.
Exploiting babies as meal tickets is horrible behaviour. But it isn't new behaviour.
Unlike the United Kingdom, in NZ every new baby comes with a substantial increase in benefit payments of around $190 -217 weekly. There is no cap.
Earlier this week it was reported internationally that the UK government is coming under immense pressure from activists to lift their two-child benefit cap, in place since 2017. The picture painted is of a cruel and callous government intentionally forcing children into poverty.
The reality is this. It is cruel and callous to incentivise the birth of otherwise unwanted children.
And it is a cruel and callous person who produces a child purely for their own monetary gain.
Yes, some have become accidentally pregnant and require temporary assistance. Yes, some have been abandoned by or need to separate from a partner and require temporary assistance.
But these original reasons for statutory aid have been overwhelmed by a behemoth of a system wherein becoming an unemployed parent entitles one to all manner of state largesse indefinitely and as of right.
That is the crux of the problem and leads to the current absurdity of state officials warning that babies might be used to secure income.
In a relatively wealthy country where one in five children is born onto a benefit, there is no 'might' about it.
Lindsay Mitchell blogs here
Lindsay claims there is a distinct possibility some young people may be incentivised to have children if the government blocks teenagers accessing Jobseeker benefits. However there is no evidence provided that this might eventuate. Or even if it does, would there be more than a handful who would wish to have another child in order to remain on a Jobseeker benefit. While NewstalkZB may have reported this I cannot find the warning in the Regulatory Impact Statement itself, perhaps I missed it.
There is a rather simple solution, no state benefit for any woman getting pregnant out of a relationship. Let the father or family provide or adopt the child into a loving home. Pay a benefit to those who end up in a situation not of their own making such as death of a partner although if there is no insurance in place any benefit should be tied to a repayment scheme when back in employment which must happen when the child is of school age.
Plenty of families, single or two parent work when the children start school so why not all parents be expected to fund their children. No father named not our problem.
There is no need for…
Simple answer is just limit the benefit to those kids you had when starting to receive it. No more money for more kids. Yes there will be a period of transition but the true bludgers will soon get the idea.
In 1981 I was interviewing a young smart ( I thought) maori woman in her late teens working in the Public Service. We discussed career options and saving for a house or travel and she stopped me and said "it doesn't matter, I'll be pregnant and on the benefit soon". That was her plan because she didn't enjoy getting out of bed and working when she saw a reasonable future on a benefit.
Things haven't changed and in fact are worse as we have robbed our children, as a nation, of ambition and ability. I know teachers who are barely literate yet are "ace" at kapa haka and we wonder why our kids are failing.
For god's sake National and…
Don't we need more babies to stop the demise of the Human Race? Birthrates in the Western world are way below replacement.