KiwiSaver: Polling shows broad support for kids’ scheme with Government kickstart contribution

New Zealanders support the idea of a KiwiSaver scheme that includes children being enrolled at birth and receiving a Government kickstart payment, polling shows.

The results highlight broad support across the political spectrum, with supporters of all parties in Parliament backing such an initiative.

The idea is back in the spotlight this week after New Zealand First announced an election policy on Sunday to make KiwiSaver compulsory at birth, with an automatic Crown contribution of $1000 for New Zealand citizens.

The polling was conducted by Talbot Mills Research in March (well before NZ First’s announcement) and shared with the Herald by Max Rashbrooke, research director at the Institute for Democratic and Economic Analysis (Idea).

It asked the question of how strongly respondents would support or oppose the Government creating a children’s KiwiSaver scheme.

“Broad details would include every child being enrolled at birth and the Government providing a kickstart payment and incentives for parents to contribute.”

The results show 36% of people strongly supported the idea, while 40% somewhat supported it, meaning a total of 76% supported such a scheme. On the other hand, 4% strongly opposed it, while 11% somewhat opposed it, adding up to 15% in opposition. The rest were unsure.

There is support from voters for all political parties represented in Parliament. The results ranged from 82% of National voters in support to 71% of Te Pāti Māori supporters. Among NZ First supporters, 74% backed the idea.

Rashbrooke, who authored a report last year considering the benefits of such a KiwiSaver scheme, told the Herald it was “heartening” to see the widespread support.

He said the results suggested KiwiSaver was popular with the public and could be built upon to improve national savings.

“That was one of the things for us with designing a kids’ KiwiSaver scheme, was to think, well, why don’t we build on what we’ve already got and something that’s already part of New Zealand DNA.

“People have KiwiSaver, so I think stuff that builds upon it is popular.”

The researcher said there was a “growing concern” about New Zealanders not saving enough, to which such a policy would provide an answer.

“People across the board get the point that the earlier you start that investment journey, the better it is, the more people will have saved as time goes by, and there is a real logic to starting that savings journey early if you’re trying to boost national savings.”

While the polling question didn’t mention the specific cost associated with such a scheme, his report had modelled the first-year cost as somewhere between $20 million and $80m, depending on how it was designed.

That report outlined six different scenarios, with variations in the kickstart amount, how much the Government matched contributions and other supports.

“It depends what assumptions you make, but most of the variants that we modelled had young people hitting 18 with somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000 in these accounts, which then roll over into adult KiwiSaver accounts.”

That would put those young people on the path to having a home deposit by the age of about 30, Rashbrooke said.

“There’s a potential for a scheme like this to restore that widespread Kiwi dream of home ownership.”

Jamie Ensor is the NZ Herald’s chief political reporter, based in the press gallery at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist in 2025 for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.