Morgan’s $200 a week lure for youth

Gareth Morgan’s The Opportunities Party is proposing a youth Unconditional Basic Income which pays everyone aged 18-23 $200 a week.

The $200 payment - which would be after tax - worked out to $10,000 a year, and would go to everyone regardless of income or whether they were studying. Unlike other benefits it would not drop off if a young person moved into employment.

It would replace the student allowance, which is tied to parental income and reaches $177.03 after tax for single people under 24. It would also replace the first $10,000 of any other benefits and the student living costs segment of student loans.

Morgan argued the financial security this would provide would bring down rates of youth suicide and financial stress.

‘‘We are supposed to be getting more affluent every year, but these stats just keep getting worse,’’ Morgan said.

The policy would cost $3.39 billion a year but TOP say they could find this money by cancelling National’s tax cuts, savings on student allowances, and with money from the Budget surplus.

‘‘As soon as [Joyce] said he was going to give himself and myself a tax cut I thought ‘Ha, I’ve found some money!’,’’ Morgan said.

He said it was key to keep the amount earned under what someone would make on the minimum wage so people still had an incentive to work.

It was the party’s third Universal Basic Income (UBI) policy launch, following one for babies and the elderly.

Morgan argued that targeted welfare payments were needlessly complex, resulting in greater costs and many not claiming the benefits they were entitled to.

Young people were feeling pressure from rising rental and housing costs, a job market in constant flux, and tertiary fees.

‘‘This is the cohort that has been pretty badly neglected by the political regime for a number of decades. They are subject to a lot of stress – the transition from the nest is not easy,’’ Morgan said.

’’Students are very loud, but they are actually only 30 per cent of the cohort; 70 per cent of the cohort do not go through tertiary education.’’

Morgan noted that Maori make up a much larger proportion of the age group – 35 per cent – than superannuitants, who are only about 5 per cent.

‘‘This is a revolution. We are saying that people in an affluent society are owed the ability to live their life with dignity.

‘‘There is just no way bureaucrats can design complex systems (big data or not) that can cope with all situations in a costeffective manner. Targeted witchhunt welfare is dead, long live the UBI revolution,’’ the party said.

If TOP makes it to Parliament, Morgan wants his party to sit on the cross-benches, offering confidence and supply support to whichever government promises to implement most of his policies.

The National Party’s campaign chair and Finance Minister Steven Joyce rejected the idea.

‘‘It’s just the wrong message you’re sending to young people that somehow you get a universal income,’’ Joyce said.

‘‘Our biggest problem at the moment is making sure we bring the young people who aren’t yet in work into work. We’ve got so many jobs around this country.’’

New Zealand Union of Students Associations President Jonathan Gee said the policy was a step in the right direction.

’’Means-testing for student allowances has proven invasive, inefficient and unreflective of the financial independence of many young people. We welcome policies that look toward universality.’’

TOP is polling about even with other minor parties at about 1 per cent. There is a 5 per cent threshold for making it into Parliament.