More working poor seeking charity in Christchurch as food bank recipient numbers grow nationwide

Sunday, 6 May 2018

Thousands of working families receiving no Government assistance are increasingly seeking help from charities to make ends meet.

The Salvation Army is welcoming 46 new Christchurch families each week for food parcels alone, with 70 per cent of those seeking assistance never having been to them before, or at least not within the previous 18 months.

In the first quarter of this year, nearly 600 new clients in Christchurch had sought a food parcel from the charity and the total number had grown by about 160 families.

Head of welfare services Major Pam Waugh said the number of people seeking basics in Christchurch grew by about 4 per cent from 2016, to 2388 families last year. The growing need was 'fast becoming a national crisis'. 

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'We haven't seen this level of need since the recession. We are not a third world nation, but we have the highest levels of homelessness in the OECD.'

In 40 per cent of families in poverty in New Zealand, at least one person was in full-time employment, Waugh said.

Parents were skipping meals while petrol prices, rent and basic food costs continued to rise, Salvation Army South Island head of welfare services Lindsay Andrews said.

'A number of parents [with pre-school-aged children] have both had to go out to work just to make ends meet,' he said.

'That becomes a crippling cycle in itself because they often will have to put young children into daycare, which adds to their cost burden at the same time.'

Nationally, the total number of food grant recipients who did not receive any government support had grown by 3 per cent.

Overall, the Salvation Army fielded an 8 per cent rise in clients nationally and a 12 per cent increase in food parcels across the country. That was after four years of 1 or 2 per cent increases.

The Christchurch average of 46 new families per week was 10 per cent higher than the national average, where 60 per cent of clients seeking help for basics last year were newcomers

Last month, Beneficiary Advisory Service spokeswoman Rebecca Occleston said the Ministry of Social Development was 'making charities do the work of the Government' when it was revealed the value of Work and Income food grants had decreased across the South Island.

Solo mother-of-two Joan* was among the thousands supported by the Sallies for the first time last year.

She received a sickness benefit while she battled mental health issues and raised her two children.

Joan's mother was helping her make ends meet when she became 'bed-ridden' due to illness and unable to work at the job she had recently started.

'I was thinking 'how do we get out of this?' We needed food, we needed stuff for the kids and mum can't work,' Joan said.

She found the Salvation Army food bank and spent 20 minutes outside 'building up the courage to enter'.

'I broke down in tears because I was just struggling. I thought to myself 'how did I end up at this point?' but, at the end of the day I'm glad that I did.'

The Salvation Army gave her enough food to last until her mother was able to return to work.

'They're just incredible people. The Salvation Army is the greatest community that I've ever met, and I'm really grateful that they helped me.'

* Name changed.