Child turns 14
When a dependent child turns 14 years old it can affect the client's eligibility to Emergency Benefit, their conditions of grant and the partner's obligations (if they have a partner).
Eligible for Jobseeker Support
When a client is granted Emergency Benefit equivalent to Jobseeker Support as they can't meet the work obligations due to caring for a dependent child, their eligibility should be reviewed when their youngest child turns 14 years old. The client may be eligible for Jobseeker Support.
Conditions of grant
Generally a client whose youngest child is aged between 3 and 13 years old will have a condition of grant to search for part-time work. When the child turns 14 years old, this should be reviewed to determine whether the client should be searching for full-time work.
Partner's obligations
The partner of an Emergency Benefit client may have:
- work preparation obligations when their youngest dependent child is under 3 years
- work obligations and required to look for part-time work of 20 hours or more a week, when their youngest dependent child is aged between 3 and 13 years or
- work obligations and required to look for full-time work of 30 hours or more a week when the youngest dependent child is aged 14 years or over
When a client's youngest child turns 14 years old, a partner with existing part-time work obligations will be assigned full time work obligations. A letter will be automatically generated to advise the partner of the changes to their obligations.
For more information see:
Legislation
- Emergency benefit: discretionary grant on ground of hardship section 63 Social Security Act 2018
