More young people are in education, training or work

We work with young people to keep them engaged and active in their communities by supporting them to be involved in education, training and employment.

Youth Service

Receipt of a benefit before reaching 18 makes someone significantly more likely to be on a benefit when they are in their thirties. Seventy per cent of New Zealand’s future benefit liability can be attributed to people who first received a benefit as a teenager¹⁴.

During the year, we continued to focus on supporting youth to avoid welfare dependency, through the Youth Service. This encompasses specialist youth case managers, in-house trials, and one-on-one mentoring to get disengaged youth back into education or training. It also provides tools and support for money management, budgeting, parenting and life skills.

Two services make up the Youth Service:

• The Youth Payment and Young Parent Payment for 16 to 19-year-olds who need financial assistance from Work and Income. At 30 June 2014, there were more than 3,000 people enrolled.
• The NEET (not in education, employment or training) programme is for 16 and 17-year-olds who are not in, or are at risk of disengaging from, education, employment or training. At 30 June 2014, there were 9,500 enrolled.

An evaluation of the first 18 months of the Youth Service’s operation was completed in June 2014 and showed that it is positively impacting on young people at a critical point in their lives. Early evidence suggests the Youth Service is helping young people to become independent of the benefit system, particularly those receiving the Youth Payment.

The Youth Service also appears to be positively influencing young people’s ability to gain NCEA qualifications. The evaluation shows that those receiving the Youth Payment benefit have spent less time on a benefit and that fewer transition to a working-age benefit.

Support for teen parents

Teen parents have the highest lifetime liability costs of all groups receiving a benefit, and their children are more likely to experience poorer outcomes.

During the year, we began a review of the services provided to teen parents and their children to ensure the right services are being delivered and are easily accessible.

We continued to provide support for teen parents through initiatives such as intensive case workers, volunteer neighbourhood supporters, and support for teen fathers. We also supported vulnerable teen parents to access adequate housing.

Through the Guaranteed Childcare Assistance Payment, we helped young parents on a benefit to meet their obligations, and supported those who are not on a benefit to return to or remain in secondary education.

How we demonstrate our success

Note: Result changes below 1 per cent between 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 are considered not statistically significant.

Footnotes

14: Source: Actuarial Valuation of the Benefit System for Working-age Adults as at 30 June 2013. This valuation report and the figures therein have not been subject to audit.