Latest news with #NewZealandCouncilofChristianSocialServices
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Mothers criticise lack of support for families
Three single mums in Dunedin have slammed the Budget for failing their families. Athena MacMillan, who has a 13-year-old son and is an assessment administrator at the Otago Medical School, said a few things in the Budget sounded "good on the surface", but provided "nowhere near" what was needed. Extra money that some families would get due to benefit changes — including raising the Working for Families abatement threshold — "wouldn't even buy a block of butter", she said. Many families earning under $100,000 a year can expect an extra $14 a fortnight due to the raise. Government changes announced to pay equity cases — making them more difficult and saving billions — was taking far more from women, children and the broader community, she said. "Women are not asking for a wishy-washy form of equality. They are asking for dollars and cents in recognition of their labour." Kirby, of South Dunedin — who has five children aged from 6 to 22 — said she had to work evenings three nights a week to try to make ends meet. The cost of food had sky-rocketed, she said. "I used to budget $150 a week and get everything I needed but now there is no way I have enough for my growing children." Paying for shoes was hard and holidays or outings were impossible, she said. Any small gain in benefits in the Budget was eaten up immediately in grocery and electricity bills. She took care to turn her heat pump off at night, but her electricity bill had risen $30 a week and she was "scared" it would rise further as winter began. Hayley, who has an 11-year-old daughter and cannot work due to serious health issues, said she welcomed a new rule that meant she did not have to visit her GP so frequently to get a repeat prescription for her epilepsy. "It was really frustrating to have to keep going back. Epilepsy is for life, it doesn't go away." Hayley — who is living with a friend after her six-month private rental came to an end — called on the government to do much more to support single homeless people "rather than putting them to one side". The budget increased the minimum that homeowners must contribute to their weekly housing costs — from 30% to 40% — in order to receive the accommodation supplement. The women's views were supported by New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services chief executive Alicia Sudden. "There is not enough in the budget to tackle cost-of-living pressures and it is not moving the dial at all on child poverty." Labour MP Ingrid Leary said she was "devastated" at the Budget, particularly for women and young people, and it was a "sad day" for the region given its needs.
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Budget 2025 Fails To Shift The Dial On Child Poverty
Budget 2025 fails to shift the dial on child poverty 'Budget 2025 reduces investment in our youngest New Zealanders and fails to address the urgent needs of children and families in Aotearoa New Zealand', says Chief Executive of the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS), Alicia Sudden. 'Following the launch of the Social Investment Fund last week, NZCCSS wanted to see Government continue to deliver their social investment approach by increasing incomes for families, recognising frontline social service providers and investing in prevention and early intervention.' 'We have seen some positive progress in today's Budget including Accommodation Supplement boundary updates, Working for Families abatement threshold increases, investment in transfers from hospital to community care for older people, and continued food bank provider and infrastructure funding. However, this comes at the expense of new parents and fails to make positive progress on child poverty.' 'The recently released UNICEF Innocenti Report Card 19 shows that New Zealand ranks 32 out of 36 wealthy nations for child wellbeing. On top of that food insecurity for children is worsening with 27% of children living in households where food runs out sometimes or often. It is more imperative than ever to ensure the needs of children are at the centre of government investment. Yet according to the Child Poverty Budget report we are way off track. Budget 2025 is anticipated to have very little impact on child poverty rates for the future and there is no major reduction in child poverty forecast in the coming years. This means this Budget will leave thousands of children in poverty.' Positively, today's Budget included an increase in the abatement threshold for Working for Families which will mean more families have access to these support payments. However, to fund this, the first year of the Best Start payment will now be income tested. The Best Start payment provides a critical payment to new parents to recognise the cost of raising a child and help equip them for the early years. Until now, this had been universal for the first year of a child's life. A Ministry of Social Development rapid review of internal evidence on possible impacts of Best Start noted that one study found that 'unconditional cash transfers significantly increased the percentage of children with good school attendance.' 'Best Start payment is a critical support that recognises the financial pressures of parenthood and invests early in our youngest New Zealanders. Today's reduction will have a major impact on new parents and their newborns. We hear from frontline providers that more working families are needing support, with an increasing amount of traditionally middle-income families coming in for social service support as they have limited bandwidth to manage financial changes due to cost of living pressures.' 'As a result of the reduction to Best Start, there are estimated to be around 62,000 parents of newborns per tax year who will receive less support in their child's first year and, of that, 55,000 parents won't receive any Best Start payment in the first year at all. While we support more people accessing Working for Families, this should not be at the cost of other parents.' Recent research by NZCCSS on middle childhood (5-12 year olds) noted that improving wellbeing outcomes for children and how they develop healthy relationships requires investment in preventative, not just bottom of the cliff, approaches across all stages of childhood. 'We want to see the Government deliver on its Child and Youth Strategy, the ambitious child poverty 2028 targets and their prevention focused social investment approach. Taking away funding from parents of our youngest New Zealanders goes against this.' 'On top of that, the changes to the employer contribution for Kiwisaver fails to take into account the impact on community social service providers. Our social service providers are delivering support for families facing disadvantages and challenges, for tamariki and rangatahi by providing opportunities and support, and for our older people who need care and assistance. These social service providers are critical to a thriving Aotearoa and supporting families through times of crisis and hardship.' 'This Budget puts extra pressure on our critical social service providers by requiring employers to increase their default Kiwisaver contributions without any further investment for contracted providers to deliver this change. This is even more disappointing in light of the recent pay equity changes which undermine the social sector by failing to recognise and value the work of kaimahi who care for New Zealanders.' 'As we start to see green shoots of economic growth, NZCCSS calls on the Government to ensure it doesn't leave people behind. This Budget will take away much needed support for new parents, leave too many children in poverty and put further financial pressure on community social services. We want to see a Budget that delivers compassion and equity for New Zealanders," says Alicia Sudden. Ko wai tātou | Who we are NZCCSS has six foundation members; the Anglican Care Network, Baptist Churches of New Zealand, Catholic Social Services, Presbyterian Support and the Methodist and Salvation Army Churches. Through this membership, NZCCSS represents over 100 organisations providing a range of social support services across Aotearoa. Our mission is to call forth a just and compassionate society for Aotearoa, through our commitment to our faith and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Community-Based Social Sector Welcomes $190m Social Investment Fund – Calls For A Fair And Sustainable Approach
Te Pai Ora SSPA and the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) welcome today's announcement from Social Investment Minister, Hon Nicola Willis of a new $190 million Social Investment Fund. 'This announcement is an exciting opportunity to take a longer term, sustainable focus on the work we do every day in communities' says Belinda Himiona, Chief Executive of Te Pai Ora SSPA. 'Every day through the mahi of providers, our sector turns around the lives of children and whānau. That's what this funding needs to support.' Te Pai Ora SSPA and NZCCSS represent community-based social service providers across Aotearoa who are focused on improving outcomes for tamariki, rangatahi, and whānau. 'Social service providers are critical to a thriving Aotearoa. This Social Investment Fund is an opportunity to better recognise the work of our incredible social sector providers. We want to ensure that next steps for delivering this fund are done with community as partners and reflect the aspirations people have for themselves," says Alicia Sudden, Chief Executive Officer, NZCCSS. 'We're keen that the community sector is involved as the Social Investment Agency develops its approach,' says Belinda. 'What we want to see is a social investment model that truly understands and responds to community need – and that is fair, robust, and workable.' The organisations say lessons must be learned from past processes. Both NZCCSS and Te Pai Ora SSPA believe commissioning needs to be done in good faith, guided by evidence, and with children and whānau firmly at the centre. The potential of the new fund centres on the detail: 'The sector has the capability and experience to deliver early and effective support – but that work takes time, care, and trust. Our people work intensively with complex cases. That must be properly recognised in how the fund is rolled out.' 'We are pleased to see a stronger focus through this fund on preventative approaches, particularly in light of New Zealand's poor child wellbeing ranking in the recently released UNICEF Innocenti report, and NZCCSS hopes to see further positive budget announcements that will benefit the wellbeing and needs of children and whānau in the Budget next week," says Alicia. As the Government looks ahead to Budget 2025, both Te Pai Ora SSPA and NZCCSS say the sector will be looking for long-term commitment to early support, prevention, and sustainable funding. 'This is a sector that shows up every day for communities. We're ready to work together on a social investment approach that's grounded in evidence, guided by community voice, and driven by a genuine commitment to improving lives,' says Belinda.
