‘It’s mostly no breakfast’: Rising fuel costs mean feeding children is now a daily struggle

Friday, 27 March 2026

Nights spent crying in the shower, children having to sleep on the living room floor, living on rice, and taking money from an already stretched food budget to buy fuel is the daily reality for two families.

Unalotu Latu says she now spends around $150 a week on fuel, which includes taking her children to and from school in Papatoetoe from their home in Mangere. With eight children, aged 7 to 19, she has to do two trips.

On Tuesday, the Government announced families earning $112,000 a year or less with two children would get a $50 a week boost to help with rising fuel costs.

Some 143,000 families will get the additional $50 a week through a boost to the in-work tax credit.

Although grateful for any financial support, she is still worried about how they will afford gas.

“$50 is only around 14 litres of fuel.”

The family’s budget is already stretched. Unable to afford to rent a large home in Auckland, the children sleep in a communal room, on the floor or on the sofa. Her husband Folau suffers from bad knees following an accident.

“It is so hard for us parents to see them sleep in the living room close to the kitchen.”

Latu has already cut what she can from the food budget, buying large bags of flour, rice and sugar to bulk out dishes. She used to spend $300 a week on food, but with rising costs, it’s a constant battle.

“I'm always worried about food because it’s mostly no breakfast and they only look forward to the free lunch at school

“I only buy what is cheap. We only have powdered milk. The kids don’t like it.”

She worries about fuel going up more, as she prioritises the children’s education.

Tauranga mum of four Kassandra is also grateful for the additional help, but is already spending $40 more a week on fuel. Her husband, who works at the port, needs it for work. Kassandra needs to take one of her children to medical appointments and pick her from school.

“$50 will help but it won't actually do a lot, with other bills like food increasing. We used to spend $120 a week on fuel, now it is $160. It's definitely increased to the point we think twice even about driving to the beach for a walk. We try to do everything at once, so are already cutting out what we used to do with the car.”

The family lives on around $96000 before tax a year. They pay $780 a week in rent, and around $100 on power.

“We are struggling. We have a good home that's stable for at least another year but have had to move four times in three years as landlords sell.

She had been digging into the food budget to cover that increase, constantly worried about not being able to afford fuel in case of emergencies. She used to allocate $300 a week to food, but she’s only had $150 a week for food in the last few weeks.

“When I have unexpected bills, like appointments or even equipment my daughter needs, that money has had to come out of the food bill in the last few weeks, as well as the extra money for fuel. Running out of fuel is always on my mind if I have to rush my daughter to hospital as she’s had seizures.”

She and her husband have not bought new clothes for almost two years.

“He wears his work uniform. I wear his shoes sometimes as I can’t afford to get mine repaired. Stuff for the kids is second hand or on Afterpay.”

Kassandra doesn’t know how they will cope if prices rise further.

“It’s already a stretch buying food, so I can’t keep taking it out of that. We now bulk up on pasta and rice. All food has gone up in a massive jump. I used to be able to do meals between $20-30 each dinner, feeding six people, and now it's averaging about $40-60. If I wanted to do a beef stew for what we do we would be looking at $60-90 just for the meat.”

“There isn't enough money to go around with rising prices. Petrol, food, health , power - it's all going up at once. Wages aren’t. I can give up eating and fill up on water for a period of time or eat rice but certain things I can't afford to compromise.

“Some nights I have sat there in the shower crying. You feel like you lose yourself as you put you last. But as a mother I don't want the kids to see me stressed, so I act like I’ve got it all under control.”

Research by the Child Poverty Action Group shows that low income households across Aotearoa are now living below the income floor, with increasingly fewer households able to cover the bare essentials.

Despite periodic increases to benefits and wages, income support and the minimum wage have not kept pace with rising living costs, the research found.

Couples with two children working 40 hours on minimum wage are already in deficit in 2025, the research found.

“By 2026, even 60 hours of work will not be enough to lift them above the income floor, the research said.”

This story was amended on March 30th to reflect medical bills for Kassandra’s daughter also contributed to her having less money for food.