7.9.1 Who is an Eligible Young Person?

An eligible young person (EYP) is someone who:

• is under 16; or
• between 16 and 25 and undertaking full-time education and not ordinarily engaged in full-time work on his or her own account.

Note: Being an eligible young person has no significance of itself in the context of compensation following death.  However, if an eligible young person was or is deemed to have been the dependant (see 7.5.1 and 7.5.2) of a deceased member who was wholly or partly dependent on the member immediately before that member's death, that young person will be entitled to lump sum and possibly also periodic payment compensation in respect of that death.

Note that:

• a person under 16 remains an 'eligible young person' regardless of their situation re: education or employment
• a person aged 25 or over cannot be an 'eligible young person' (although a person who is over 25 can, if enrolled in a course of education or training before turning 25, continue to receive MRCAETS payments – see Chapter 9 of this manual)
• between 16 and 25, 'eligible young person' status depends on the receipt of full time education at a recognised institution.
• an 'eligible young person' under 25 who had previously surrendered that status by leaving education, may subsequently re-qualify for entitlements other than the lump sum payment – i.e. by again leaving work and taking up a full-time tertiary course
• the phrase 'engaged in work on his or her own account' means that delegates should not exclude eligible young persons who at the date of death had part time employment during a period of full time study from receiving lump sum payments or the weekly EYP payment.  This also includes working or helping out part time in the family business or who perform unpaid work on the family farm, etc. These individuals, although they may be considered to be working, are not considered to be engaged in work on their own account.

Persons over the age of 16 who are alleged to be eligible young persons must demonstrate:

a)that they are under the age of 25 – a copy of the birth certificate is required from all eligible young persons claiming any sort of entitlement relating to a member's death.

b)that they are enrolled full-time at a school, college, university or other educational institution – a copy of the enrolment documents is required to substantiate this.

Wholly Dependent Partners who are also Eligible Young Persons

A wholly dependent partner may also be an eligible young person because of age and student status.   In such cases, the person is not entitled to compensation otherwise available to eligible young persons.  Instead, compensation must be claimed by the person and paid for by the Commission as a wholly dependent partner.