Unsupported Child's Benefit or Sole Parent Support

Three Different Payments for Three Different Situations

When a child isn't living with their birth parents in New Zealand, three different payments might apply depending on the circumstances. Understanding which one fits your situation matters because they have very different rules about income testing, who can receive them, and what extra help comes with them.

Unsupported Child's Benefit (UCB)

The UCB is for a non-parent caregiver — grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, whānau, or family friend — who has taken on primary care of a child because the parents can't provide care due to family breakdown.

Key features:

• Paid per child, not per caregiver
• Not means-tested against the caregiver's income
• Your NZ Super or employment income doesn't reduce it
• $327.92 to $394.92 per week depending on the child's age (2026 rates)
• Comes with automatic clothing, holiday, and birthday allowances plus access to the Establishment Grant and Extraordinary Care Fund
• Non-taxable

Sole Parent Support (SPS)

SPS is for a parent or caregiver who is the primary carer of a dependent child and is single — not in a relationship. It's a standard income-tested benefit.

Key features:

• Means-tested against your personal income and your partner's income
• Paid to the person, not per child
• Different rate structure (lower base rate but different abatement thresholds)
• The child counts as a "dependent child" for Working for Families Tax Credits (Family Tax Credit, Best Start)
• Work preparation obligations apply if the youngest child is under 3; part-time work obligations apply from ages 3 to 13, including a child you receive UCB or OB for. Sole Parent Support ends when the youngest child turns 14.

When They Overlap

An eligible grandparent can receive UCB in addition to their own Sole Parent Support. In limited scenarios, Work and Income can assess whether including the child under SPS gives a higher combined household income than receiving UCB separately.

With UCB, the child is not counted as your dependent child for Working for Families, so you cannot claim the Family Tax Credit or Best Start for that child. An eligible working caregiver may still qualify for the In-Work Tax Credit. Inland Revenue includes UCB and OB as income when calculating Working for Families entitlement.

With SPS, the child may be included under the main benefit, and Working for Families eligibility depends on the household's circumstances. The SPS payment is income-tested against your personal income and your partner's income.

There is no universal better outcome. Ask Work and Income to compare the applicable treatment for your household.

Oranga Tamariki Board Payments (Foster Care Allowance)

The Foster Care Allowance (FCA) is paid by Oranga Tamariki — Ministry for Children — to caregivers of children placed in formal state custody or care-and-protection arrangements under Section 363 of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.

The critical boundary: If a child is placed with you through an Oranga Tamariki custody order, you receive FCA from Oranga Tamariki. You cannot receive UCB or OB for that child — the two systems are mutually exclusive.

FCA covers different ground: it comes with its own support framework, caregiver training, and social worker involvement. The payment structure differs from UCB, and the oversight is more intensive.

If you're caring for a child informally or through a Family Group Conference without a formal custody order, that's UCB territory. If Oranga Tamariki has taken the child into formal state care and placed them with you, that's FCA territory.

Not Sure Which Applies?

Both UCB and SPS use Work and Income as the administering agency. Call 0800 559 009 and explain your situation — the case manager will assess which payment applies and which gives you the best outcome. The UCB and OB application form (M14) is the same for both caregiver benefits.

The NZ Unsupported Child's Benefit and Orphan's Benefit guide includes a benefit route decision flowchart that walks through these scenarios with printable worksheets.

See more New Zealand guides →