The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) welcomes today’s announcement of increased Government support for low-and-middle-income families receiving the In Work Tax Credit under Working for Families but calls for support to be extended to beneficiary families who are also struggling to make ends meet.
“An additional $50 per week will provide some relief for the 143,000 eligible working families, helping to mitigate the impact of higher fuel costs on already stretched household budgets,” says NZCCSS CEO Alicia Sudden.
“Transport is an important factor for beneficiary families who are also caring for children and carrying out their obligations to seek work. We recommend that the support package be extended to these families. Doing so would be a positive step in upholding the wellbeing of our nation’s children and taking our commitments under the Child Poverty Reduction Act seriously.”
“The Coalition Government has had a strong focus on improving school attendance. It is important that we ensure children and young people can continue to access school, and that the cost of transport does not become a barrier to attendance.”
Evidence suggests childhood poverty can have broad ranging impacts including on school achievement and adult employment. Attendance services have raised concerns regarding the impact of increases in fuel costs on school attendance1, while research suggests that around 60% of children aged 5-14 years use fuel-based transport as means of getting to and from school.2
Child poverty statistics released last month by Statistics NZ show a statistically significant increase since 2022 in children living in material hardship and in income poverty, using the after-housing costs measure. Almost 50,000 more children are not having their basic needs met than in 2022.
“These statistics, and those from our membership such as the Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report, reflect what we are hearing across our membership about the financial pressures being faced in communities around Aotearoa”
Despite large increases in living costs there has not been a significant increase in benefit rates, beyond annual adjustments, since April 2022. Through its Free from Poverty campaign NZCCSS is calling for an increase in core benefit levels and the indexing of benefits to align with the greater of either wage growth or CPI, along with changes to Working for Families to expand its reach and impact.
In addition to calling for benefit and Working for Families increases, NZCCSS is also recommending the introduction of a Poverty Reduction Act and the establishment of a national poverty line.
“Poverty impacts on people at all stages of the lifespan. We call on the Government to raise the visibility of poverty through a Poverty Reduction Act, which will help to track how interventions such as those announced today are working towards reducing poverty for all people.”
“Hardship and poverty are not inevitable. We can make choices to ensure a future where no child or adult goes hungry,” says Alicia.
ENDS
Ingoa whakapā | Contact Name
Alicia Sudden is available for interviews upon request:
Alicia Sudden – ceo@nzccss.org.nz | 021 879 085