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If your main concern is “I need enough money to study without having to work so many hours that study suffers”, the parties are quite different in 2026.

The election is 7 November 2026, and I’m comparing policies that have actually been announced as of 16 October 2026, rather than older promises that may no longer be current. Reuters

First: what you can get under the current system

As of 1 April 2026, a single student aged 24+ living away from home can receive up to $380.43/week after tax in Student Allowance, although it is reduced by your own income. If you're under 24 and living away from home, the maximum is $333.38/week after tax, with parental-income testing also potentially applying. StudyLink

The Student Loan's living-cost component is currently up to $333.48/week. If you receive some Student Allowance, your living-cost borrowing is reduced so that the two together don't exceed $333.48/week. StudyLink

If you're receiving Student Allowance and renting rather than living with your parents, you may also get the $60/week Accommodation Benefit. StudyLink

One particularly important point for you: your part-time wages can reduce your Student Allowance. The current rules use a personal-income threshold of $284.70/week before the allowance starts being reduced. Legislation New Zealand

So the practical question isn't just “which party gives students more?” It's also “which party makes it possible for me to work fewer hours?”

How the major parties compare

Party	Student allowance / income support	Student loans	What it could mean for you
Greens	Universal student income, including postgraduate students	Reduce loan repayments; work toward debt write-off and fees-free tertiary education	Strongest direct support if your priority is reducing the amount you need to work
NZ First	Wants to investigate a universal Student Allowance, without parental means-testing	Lower mandatory repayment rate; targeted debt write-offs for critical workers	Potentially very significant, but less certain because the allowance proposal is an investigation rather than a firm universal-payment commitment
Labour	No major new universal Student Allowance announced	10% of eligible student debt written off; $2,000-or-less balances eventually cleared	Stronger benefit after graduation than during study
National	Existing Student Allowance system; has announced +$22/week for a single over-24 Student Allowance recipient	Reduce compulsory repayment from 12% to 10%	Some help while studying, and more take-home pay once you're earning
ACT	No comparable universal student-income proposal	Focuses on reducing costs rather than forgiving debt; wants voluntary Student Services Fees	More market/user-pays approach; potentially lowers some costs but doesn't substantially replace your part-time income
Te Pāti Māori	No clearly specified universal student allowance in its published 2026 material that I could find	No similarly detailed student-loan proposal identified	Less directly targeted to your particular problem
Opportunity	$19,400/year Citizen's Income for adults, replacing Student Allowance	Student Allowance would effectively disappear as a separate payment	Potentially transformative if enacted, but involves a major tax/welfare-system redesign

🟢 Greens: strongest fit if your priority is reducing paid work

The Green Party's 2026 tertiary policy is unusually direct: it proposes a universal student income, including for postgraduate students, and says courses requiring work placements should pay at least the living wage. It also proposes reducing student-loan repayments and working towards fees-free tertiary education and student-debt write-off. Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

And this is not merely an abstract commitment. Today, 16 October, the Greens announced a $380/week universal payment for students undertaking compulsory placements in nursing, teaching, social work and other specified essential-workforce programmes, on top of existing Student Allowance or Student Loan support, plus a $1,500 relocation payment where necessary. Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

For someone struggling to fit employment around study, the important distinction is that the Greens' approach is to increase the amount of support you receive for being a student, rather than primarily asking you to borrow more or work more.

Green Party 2026 tertiary policy

🔴 Labour: particularly attractive if your concern is the debt you'll leave with

Labour's headline student policy is not a bigger allowance. Instead, it promises to cut eligible student-loan balances by 10%.

If you've already finished studying and are still repaying a qualifying loan, the 10% reduction would happen on 1 April 2027. Current and future students would qualify after finishing study and remaining in New Zealand for three years. Balances of $2,000 or less would be completely cleared after that three-year period. The scheme excludes people who benefited from Fees Free. Labour Party NZ

Labour also has a broader cost-of-living programme, including cheaper public transport, which could matter considerably if commuting is one of your expenses. Labour Party NZ

So I'd characterise Labour as “less debt and lower living costs”, rather than “give students substantially more income while they're studying.”

Labour's student-debt policy

🔵 National: modestly better cash flow, particularly if you're already eligible for Allowance

National's specific student measure is a $22/week increase for a single person over 24 receiving Student Allowance. National says around 52,000 students would receive additional assistance. National Party

For student loans, National proposes reducing the compulsory repayment rate from 12% to 10% from 1 April 2027. That doesn't help much while you're studying on a low income, but becomes meaningful once you graduate and earn above the repayment threshold. National Party

National is therefore the more incremental option: some extra support now, lower repayments later, but no fundamental change to student income support.

🟡 NZ First: potentially big change, but less certain

NZ First's published tertiary policy proposes investigating a universal Student Allowance not subject to parental means-testing for all full-time students. It also proposes changing the mandatory repayment rate to 10%, removing mandatory repayments for certain students earning below the median wage, and targeted student-loan write-offs for people working in identified skill-shortage occupations. New Zealand First

That could be highly relevant if you're under 24 and your parents' income currently affects your allowance.

The catch is important: “investigate introducing” isn't the same as a guaranteed payment. I'd give this less weight than a fully costed, explicit commitment.

🟠 ACT: more about reducing the cost of tertiary education than increasing income

ACT's student policy is principally about choice and reducing compulsory fees. It proposes making Student Services Fees voluntary rather than compulsory, saying students could save up to around $4,000 over a three-year degree through their student loan. ACT New Zealand

That's potentially useful, but it addresses a different problem from yours. It reduces the amount going onto your loan, rather than giving you enough weekly income that you can work fewer hours.

🟣 Opportunity: the radical alternative

Opportunity's proposal is arguably the most dramatic for a student financially.

It proposes a $19,400-a-year Citizen's Income for every citizen and resident aged 18+, paid fortnightly and tax-free. It would replace the existing Student Allowance as well as several other benefits. 1News

That's roughly $373/week.

The catch is that Opportunity would fundamentally redesign the tax-and-benefit system to pay for it, including a 28% income-tax rate up to $50,000. So you shouldn't compare the $19,400 with a Student Allowance in isolation—the overall effect on your disposable income depends on your wages and circumstances.

What I'd focus on in your situation

If I reduce the policies to your actual problem—“I can't fit enough paid work around my study”:

1. Greens — clearest commitment to substantially increasing student income/support. Their universal student income directly targets student poverty and reliance on employment/borrowing.
2. Opportunity — potentially even more dramatic through the Citizen's Income, but it's a much bigger tax/welfare restructuring and therefore a less straightforward comparison.
3. NZ First — potentially strong, especially if parental means-testing is a problem, but its universal allowance remains an investigation rather than a definite commitment.
4. National — relatively modest improvement to current Student Allowance; more beneficial to borrowers once they're earning.
5. Labour — strongest of these mainstream options on reducing the debt you eventually repay, but comparatively little new cash support while you're studying.
6. ACT — could reduce some tertiary costs and therefore borrowing, but doesn't really solve the “I need to work fewer hours” problem.

That's a ranking only on the student-finance question you've asked, not an overall ranking of the parties.

One other thing I'd be careful about: don't assume that “more Student Loan living costs” means you're better off. A loan can solve your weekly cash-flow problem while leaving you with substantially more debt. The Greens' universal income, Opportunity's Citizen's Income, and NZ First's proposed universal allowance are qualitatively different because they aim to provide more support without simply turning the shortfall into borrowing.

If you tell me your age, whether you currently receive Student Allowance, roughly how much you earn per week from your job, and roughly how much you pay in rent/board, I can turn this into a personalised dollar comparison of what each party's policy would likely mean for you per week and after graduation.