27853 (2025). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister for Social Development and Employment

27853 (2025). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: How has the Government calculated that approximately 17,800 people will not be eligible for Jobseeker Support in the first two years of implementation of the Government's policy to tighten eligibility to Jobseeker Support for 18 and 19 year olds in absence of final decisions on the design of the new parental assistance test?

Hon Louise Upston: I am told by the Ministry of Social Development that they used historical data to identify the cohort of people receiving Jobseeker Support who would be ineligible based on initial policy assumptions and what this was as a percentage of people receiving Jobseeker Support. This percentage was used to adjust the latest forecasts to estimate the total number of people who could be impacted by the policy. This initial estimate will be refined during the coming months as final decisions are made on the design of the Parental Assistance Test.