KiwiSaver changes in 2026: what has already changed and what each party would do

What has already changed

These are in law now, whoever wins the election.

The default contribution rate rose from 3% to 3.5% on 1 April 2026, for both you and your employer. It rises again to 4% on 1 April 2028.

The yearly government contribution was halved from 1 July 2025. It is now 25 cents for every dollar you put in, up to $260.72 a year, down from $521.43. People earning more than $180,000 no longer get it.

National: compulsory, rising to 6% each

National would make KiwiSaver compulsory for workers from 1 July 2028, with contributions rising to 6% from the employee and 6% from the employer by 2032.

It would also enrol every baby at birth with $1,500 from the government, pay into a parent's KiwiSaver during paid parental leave, and require employers to keep contributing for workers over 65.

Labour: compulsory for employers, not for you

Labour would make the employer's contribution compulsory from 1 July 2028 and lift it to 6% by 2032. The difference from National is that your employer would have to keep paying even if you cut or pause your own contributions.

The default employee rate would be 4%, and you could still pause. Labour would also ban new contracts that fold the employer's KiwiSaver contribution into your salary, and extend employer contributions to workers over 65 and to people on paid parental leave.

NZ First, ACT and Opportunity

NZ First would enrol every newborn citizen with $1,000 from the Crown and make KiwiSaver compulsory for workers, with employee and employer contributions eventually rising to 10%.

ACT would go a different way. It would remove tax on the earnings inside KiwiSaver funds and end the government contribution for members who get employer contributions, replacing it with that tax relief. It has questioned whether saving should be compulsory at all.

Opportunity, which is not in Parliament, proposes a compulsory scheme with employee and employer contributions rising to 6% each.

We could not find a published 2026 KiwiSaver policy from the Greens or Te Pāti Māori.

What actually separates them

Three questions do most of the work.

Is it compulsory for you? National, NZ First and Opportunity say yes. Labour says only for your employer. ACT is wary of compulsion.

Who pays for the increase? A higher employee rate comes out of your take-home pay now. A higher employer rate is a cost to the business, which critics say shows up later as smaller pay rises.

What about people who cannot spare it? Compulsion helps people who would otherwise retire with nothing. It also takes money today from households already short. Labour's answer is to let employees pause; National's is to allow a pause only on hardship grounds.

KiwiSaver and the rest of your vote

KiwiSaver is not one of the 37 questions in the NZVoteCheck quiz, but it sits beside several that are, including whether the NZ Super age should rise and how the government should close its deficit. Our NZ Super guide covers the retirement age argument.

To see how the parties compare across everything else, start from the home page.