Two incomes not enough for Christchurch family seeking food parcels

Friday, 25 May 2018

More than 4600 families who do not receive Government assistance asked for help from the Salvation Army in 2017.

In an average week, Kylie* and her partner might take home a combined $620 after tax. In a tough week it could be less than $300.

The Christchurch mother said she did not receive any Government support or tax cuts to help her and her partner raise their two children, aged 8 and 5.

Instead, she turned to charities like 0800 Hungry and she recently took her children for a free haircut at the Christchurch City Mission, but felt guilty and embarrassed.

'There were all sorts of people. I felt a bit like maybe I shouldn't be there because everyone looked homeless, but it's a free haircut,' she said.

* Burden falls on charities as South Island Work and Income clients face food grant decreases

* Rising living costs seeing more families turning to food banks

* Working poor drive food bank demand as Christmas nears

Kerry and Nicky Bensemann run the 0800 Hungry food bank, the largest in Christchurch, which delivers food to hundreds of people every week.

* Wait times triple, food grants halve at Riccarton Work and Income branch**

You cannot see her nuclear family's poverty. They are tidily dressed and live in a clean, modern home in east Christchurch, but they are one of thousands nationwide relying on the help of charities to stay afloat.

The Salvation Army last year provided welfare for more than 4600 people who did not receive any Government support. That made up a small fraction of working families going to that charity alone.

Kylie's family were one of four food parcel recipients Stuff visited one autumn morning with 0800 Hungry, Christchurch's largest food bank.

Both parents work but this is not the first time they have received one of the charity's $5 parcels, containing anywhere from $120 to more than $200 worth of food. They would 'probably starve' if it was not an option.

'It's quite sad to think that. I go without for the kids. Some days I don't eat a lot until tea time … it shouldn't be like that,' Kylie said.

Their rent recently decreased by $100 to $350 a week when they moved to a new property, and a log burner saved money they had been spending on operating a heat pump. They did not have an internet connection in their home as it was too expensive.

But the couple were paying off a loan taken out to pay school fees, warrants of fitness and registration for the family's vehicles. They hoped it would be paid off by mid-2019.

Kerry Bensemann started the food bank nearly 17 years ago.

'We've got two cars so we're looking at selling one off to pay the loan, and that's an extra $190 a week. Then I wouldn't have to ring [0800 Hungry],' Kylie said.

Rent was in arrears at their old home, so her partner was working for the landlord on weekends to pay him back, she said. 'He hasn't had a day off in about a month.'

The Bensemanns' warehouse is the largest food bank in Christchurch, and one of the only ones to deliver.

With her children now at school, Kylie was available to increase her hours at her part-time job, but April until October was quiet at the portable toilet rental place where she was worked.

'They have events at the start of the year and the end of the year, so I don't get a lot of work [in between] … They ring me when they can because they know our situation, and I put my hand up.'

Some weeks she earned nothing. If she worked her standard two days a week, she brought in about $120 after tax, she said. Her partner was a contractor and got paid sporadically, when he completed a job, and the amount he was paid fluctuated.

Groceries cost somewhere between $120 and $150 a week, but Kylie's mother often brought food over for the family. She said she did not receive any government support or tax cuts.

'I just kind of like to do it on my own. I shouldn't really do it the hard way but I don't like to seek too much help.'

Kerry and Nicky Bensemann run 0800 Hungry and do not discriminate between who receives the food parcels they have been distributing in Christchurch for nearly 17 years.

Leanne* says her benefit is usually enough to live off, except for when things like birthdays and dental appointments come up.

'I've been to a house where they've been like 'great, the food's sorted. Now we can buy the grog'. You think 'that's not the purpose of why we're here',' Nicky Bensemann said.

'We've got a couple that just want to yak, they're pensioners and they've got no-one to talk to … getting food's one way of having a conversation with somebody.'

Solo mum Leanne* went to 0800 Hungry the first time when she was pregnant with her daughter, now aged 4.

'I had a roast in my freezer and four potatoes … [Work and Income] said that should be enough to last me a week,' she said.

'I contacted [0800 Hungry] and I couldn't believe it when they dropped off the food.'

Leanne received supported living payments from Work and Income, but 'it tends to be around birthdays or a really high power bill' when she needed extra assistance.

'[The benefit is] definitely enough to live off, it's just when there's something unexpected that comes up that there's an issue.

'You can ask WINZ, but it depends who you see. [Sometimes] it feels like you're taking the money out of their wallet, and you walk off feeling like a piece of crap.'

Her daughter's father paid child support, which contributed to the benefit she received.

Kerry Bensemann said the idea behind his service was to get churches out into their communities, and volunteering at 0800 Hungry was a way to do that.

More funding and volunteers were needed to help keep the service afloat after it nearly closed last year.

* Names changed.