Benefit sanctions could push young parents into homelessness
Kia ora koutou,
In her reporting for Te Ao Māori News, Layla Bailey‑McDowell shares urgent concerns from Cindy Kawana, General Manager at E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services. She warns Budget 2025’s decision to impose benefit sanctions and means-test 18–19‑year-olds against parental income will strip vital support from vulnerable rangatahi and could leave them—especially young mātua and their pēpi—homeless and at risk.
Kawana highlights that most rangatahi do not have stable whānau arrangements or safe housing to fall back on. She emphasises that punishing them with sanctions “deny their place in society” when they are already carrying heavy burdens of mental-health stress, unstable housing, and fractured whānau relationships. ()
“At 18, they’re told, ‘You can’t go on the benefit… That just seems crazy.”
E Tipu E Rea is calling for a compassionate, wrap-around response—one that provides financial, emotional, and practical support so rangatahi mātua and their tamariki can thrive.
Read the full article on Te Ao Māori News.
