Nearly 300 people visited Rotorua Whakaroa's free supermarket one Saturday and general manager Elmer Peiffer believes about 30 per cent of them were single.
A Bay of Plenty working widow told NZME she has had to drop her contents insurance in order to pay her car insurance and her son had moved back in to help her pay the rent. She had only just told her family it was a struggle to make ends meet.
A Bay of Plenty man says when he separated from his partner of more than 20 years it didn't take long for reality to kick in. He, like many others, had worked hard, and in an instant, financial security was gone.
These are heartbreaking stories and statistics that are starting to paint a picture of poverty among the middle-aged.
Bay rental experts say accommodating single people is difficult because rents have risen, with a one-bedroom unit in Rotorua costing about $300 a week and a one-bedroom apartment in Tauranga on the market for $575.
How is a single person - let alone a single parent - able to afford that on their own?
One rental company often gets phone calls of desperation.
Many people are weighing up daily: Do I feed the kids or pay the rent? Do I turn the heater on or save on the power bill?
I fear that often food is the one to be cut from the budget.
Financial and budget experts told NZME that some people just put their heads in the sand and wait for the worst, while others see it as a challenge.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?
Craigs Investment Partners investment director Mark Lister says it is another sad example of why people need to take their finances seriously as early as possible and buy a house if they can.
That way, by the time they reach their 50s, 60s, or 70s, they have something behind them.
Times are tough and no one can predict if life-changing events such as marriage break-ups, the death of a partner, or loss of income might happen.
But if people do end up in trouble it is important they ask for help. There is power in people acknowledging their situation and taking action.
