Child changes

The number of dependent children in an Emergency Benefit client's care and any change to the circumstances of a child can affect:

• their eligibility for benefit
• the basic rate of benefit payable
• the rate of family tax credit payable
• payment of Best Start tax credit
• the rate of extra help payable and
• the client's obligations

For a child to be included in a client's Emergency Benefit the child must be a dependent child and generally ordinarily resident in New Zealand.

Where the child is not the client's natural or adoptive child, the client may be able to get Unsupported Child's Benefit (instead of having the child included in their Emergency Benefit). This will mainly depend on the care arrangements.

When a young person aged 16 to 19 has a child change, this can affect their Emergency Benefit if it is equivalent to Jobseeker Support or Jobseeker Support Student Hardship.

If their last child leaves their care or stops being dependent, they must meet the Parental Assistance Test to continue getting Emergency Benefit equivalent to 1 of these main benefits. This includes when the client or their partner starts or stops getting one of these payments for a child:

• Foster Care Allowance
• Orphans Benefit
• Unsupported Childs Benefit