NZ First ‘KiwiSaver generation’ good policy – but will it happen?
NZ First is going into this year’s election campaign promising to make KiwiSaver enrolment compulsory from birth.
Friday, May 22nd 2026, 8:27AM
And while the industry supports moves to get kids investing earlier, not everyone is convinced the policy is the right way to do it.
Leader Winston Peters said his party wanted to see an automatic and immediate Crown contribution of $1000 to New Zealand citizens signing up at birth, for what he said would be the “KiwiSaver generation”.
He said universal birth enrolment would ensure every child began their financial life as a KiwiSaver member, with a meaningful balance already growing on their behalf.
The policy would run in tandem with NZ First’s other proposal, to make the scheme compulsory for the wider workforce and increase employee and employer contributions to 8 percent initially and eventually to 10 percent.
“Establishing membership from day one, normalising savings as a lifelong habit, and ensuring no New Zealander enters adulthood without a savings foundation already in place. This policy removes the enrolment gap entirely for the next generation.”
The number of KiwiSaver members under 17 has halved over the past decade, since the $1000 kickstart incentive was removed.
Koura KiwiSaver founder Rupert Carlyon said NZ First’s plan was good policy. “Is a $1000 contribution going to make a material difference to someone? No, because fundamentally you sit there and go a $1000 contribution at birth, by they time you’re 18 is only $3500, $4000.
“Not nothing but not a massive amount in terms of actually the impact on people's lives. The big beauty about it, is the value in the education. So teaching people about compounding interest, teaching people about the fact that, I can save and if I lock it up for this period of time, I've seen money go from $1000 to $3500. It teaches not just the kids, it teaches parents… it encourages the habit of saving because it is giving people a real-life example of what it is and a lot of people otherwise would not do it.”
Carlyon was not convinced it would happen. “It’s a long way away from where National seems to want to go. I think compulsion is more likely than that… they are after solutions that don't cost the government any money.”
Kernel founder Dean Anderson has called for Government contributions to be redirected to under-18-year-olds. He said, with the right settings, this could give an 18-year old $10,000 or $20,000 in their accounts by the time they entered the workforce.
He said Kernel was looking to add KiwiSaver accounts to its platform because many parents wanted a way to manage their family’s investment and retirement balances in one place.
Sharesies said it was encouraging more young people to sign up to KiwiSaver by promising to contribute 25c in the dollar up to $100 for contributions to children’s KiwiSaver accounts in the 2026/27 contribution year.
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