Cannot get financial support
A young person may have a Parental Support Gap with a parent because there is a barrier that prevents the parent from providing financial support to them. This includes, but is not limited to, when the parent is:
- deceased
- in prison
- in long-term hospital care
- missing e.g. whereabouts unknown
- unknown to the young person
- overseas and is in exceptional circumstances
In prison
In prison means the parent has been remanded in custody or is serving a sentence of imprisonment, preventative detention, or corrective training. This includes where they have been detained in, or transferred to, a psychiatric hospital.
In long-term hospital care
Long-term hospital care means the parent is in:
- hospital care (generally for at least 13 weeks)
- psychiatric care
- rest home care
- residential care or
- palliative care
Parent unknown
A young person may not know who 1 or more of their parents are. This could include, but is not limited to, the following situations:
- donor conception
- misattributed parentage
- child abandonment or
- when one genetic parent does not know the identity of the other genetic parent
Missing or whereabouts unknown
This means the parent has disappeared. Their location is unknown or it cannot be established, and they cannot be contacted. The parent may have disappeared voluntarily or involuntarily. They may be a missing person, but they do not have to be for a Parental Support Gap to exist.
Overseas and in exceptional circumstances
This means the parent is overseas and cannot provide financial support to the young person because of exceptional circumstances beyond the parent's control.
Exceptional circumstances set a person apart from others in the same or a similar situation. This includes, but is not limited to, when the parent:
- is prevented from sending or transferring money to New Zealand (e.g. due to international banking sanctions like those imposed against Russia in 2022)
- has no access to internet and banking services
- is in an area that is experiencing an emergency (e.g. warfare, civil unrest, natural disaster) or is recovering from one, which means the parent cannot reliably provide financial support
Note exceptional circumstances do not include when the parent has an income, but their living costs or other expenses mean they cannot afford to support the young person.
Example 1
Derick has 2 natural parents who are separated. Derick's mother is still in his life, and her income is assessed for the Parental Income Test. His father moved overseas when Derick was 15 years old and he has not been in contact with anyone in the family since. No one has an address or contact details for him.
Derick cannot get financial support from his father because his whereabouts are unknown, and he has no way to get in contact with him.
Example 2
Kimiora's mother moved overseas to work for an engineering company when Kimiora was 16 years old. They are in regular contact and are on good terms. There are no barriers preventing Kimiora's mother from providing financial support to her.
Kimiora can get financial support from her mother.
For more information see:
Legislation
- Jobseeker support: parental income requirement: parental support gap section 23G Social Security Act 2018
