Ardern was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and her uncle Ian S. Ardern is a general authority in the church

She joined the Labour Party at the age of 17.[26] Her aunt, Marie Ardern, a longstanding member of the Labour Party, recruited the teenaged Ardern to help her with campaigning for New Plymouth MP Harry Duynhoven during his re-election campaign at the 1999 general election.[27]

Ardern attended the University of Waikato, graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Communication Studies (BCS) in politics and public relations.[28] She took a semester abroad at Arizona State University in 2001.[29][30] After graduating from university, she spent time working in the offices of Phil Goff and of Helen Clark as a researcher. After a period of time in New York City, US, where she volunteered at a soup kitchen[31] and worked on a workers' rights campaign,[32] Ardern moved to London, where she became a senior policy adviser in an 80-person policy unit of British prime minister Tony Blair

A person who has never had a job other than politics but 'worked' on a campaign about worker's rights. And somehow she had the funds to study abroad for years. Sounds very trustworthy.