Here’s what it’s really like to be under 25 and on the benefit

Young people on the benefit have been in the spotlight this week.

At the party’s annual conference in Christchurch, National Party leader Christopher Luxon proposed new measures he said were designed to get them into work.

He said his party would assign active case managers to people aged under 25 who had been on the Jobseeker benefit for at least three months.

National would pay $1000 to any under-25-year-old who stayed in work for a year having previously been on a benefit for 12 months. But if they did not follow an agreed plan, they would face sanctions.

“To young people who don’t want to work: You might have a free ride under Labour, but under National, it ends,” Luxon said.

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There are more than 34,000 people under the age of 25 on the Jobseeker benefit.

Anyone over the age of 18 can receive it but the recipient needs to be willing to accept suitable employment and taking reasonable steps to find work.

The amount of money a person can get depends on how old they are, whether they have children, and their living situation.

But young people receiving the benefit say life is not always easy.

Leon Copeland, 20

Leon Copeland has been on the benefit on and off for two years. Before that, he received a youth allowance during foundation study, because he left home at 16.

He receives $387 a week and spends $250 of that on rent, while $137 is spent of living expenses.

“I spend most of it on food to make sure I eat good food. I may have around $20 left at the end of the week that goes into small bills like prepaid mobile bills and whatever else I can spare that money on.

“I am currently always living off my savings and whenever I am unemployed again I burn through it way too quickly from just day-to-day life. I burnt through $2000 of savings in the last three months since I was made redundant back at the end of April.”

He said most of it was spent on moving from Tauranga to Wellington in the hopes of better work opportunities.

“I was going months at a time without a single job offer. Now that I am here in Wellington I have a lot of jobs available to me, and I am certain I will find a job in the next couple of weeks.”

Copeland believed job coaching should be mandatory as people “spent way too much time on the benefit”.

“I know I have, and I regret it as I really didn’t do anything good with my life last year which is why I tried even harder to get a job earlier this year.”

He had next to no contact with his case manager after he was “chucked” on the benefit and had no support trying to gain employment.

“I’ve gone through other agencies as I realised Work and Income is horrible at actually helping people on the benefit with finding jobs. It’s like they don’t care any more.”

Montana Mason, 23

Montana Mason, from Lower Hutt, has been job hunting since last year after she lost her job as a commercial cleaner in December.

Through the Jobseeker payment she receives $481.95 a week, which covers board, food, and power.

“It’s definitely not as easy to live off compared to when I was working,” she said.

She had had to cut back on was her Netflix and Spotify subscriptions, and she limited her Afterpay purchases and lowered her monthly phone plan.

“I have no debt or student loans, so I’m in a better position.”

She’s actively been seeking work, but the majority of jobs listed were not within her experience or not willing to train possible employees.

“It’s a huge setback.”

She partly agreed with Luxon’s comments. She believed there needed to be more support and job coaching for people on the payment.

But she didn’t believe everyone was on the benefit for a “free ride”

“There are a lot of people, like myself, who are constantly trying but just struggle due to not having the experience or no one wants to train up. I’ve noticed a lot of employers are wanting over-qualified workers but don’t want to pay the right wages for them, it makes me sad.”