As more families self-isolate at home because of Covid-19, food expenses have increased drastically because school lunches are not an option anymore. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
As more families self-isolate at home because of Covid-19, food expenses have increased drastically because school lunches are not an option anymore. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Skyrocketing living costs are having major effects on struggling Northlanders' ability to feed their families.
A Whangārei mother of three feels guilty because she 'felt relieved' when the family had to self-isolate following a Covid-19 positive test.
"My son, before we all came down with Covid-19, received a notice fromschool about a surfing club. It was only 30 bucks, but I had not budgeted for it, and would not have been able to pay.
"I felt very guilty because of the sheer fact that I was banking on something so stupid like that.
"As a parent, it is a really degrading situation, both financially and mentally," says the mother, who receives $320 per week from Work and Income to run a household of four.
Last week, the mother was left with $100 for food after paying for rent and other bills. She said it wasn't enough to feed three growing kids, between the ages of five and 11, and an adult.
"The price of everything is ridiculous... the stress financially, emotionally, and mentally on me and my children and everyone is almost to the point where we want to go to sleep for years and not wake up."
Last year, a Northland school's budget for grocery vouchers to give out to families struggling to afford food increased by 140 per cent.
The same budget was allocated this year, and the school had already used half of it in six to eight weeks even though the money was supposed to last six months.
The school's principal said a lot of families were struggling in Northland and school lunches were not enough.
"For 10 to 12 years we have been doing school lunches but we started to realise that there were parents who did not have food in their cupboards, for breakfast or anything.
"They are all genuine cases, we know the families."
However, school lunches are not on the menu for many children as more families are having to isolate at home because of Covid-19.
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A Northland mum of seven said increasing prices were crippling her ability to buy healthy food for her children.
The family had been isolating for a month to protect the health of an immunocompromised child at home and the mother said she was spending much more as the kids did not benefit from school lunches.
"It is now an additional expense, as we now have to pay more for internet, food and entertainment, especially when you have young kids.
"Prices of fruits and vegetables are ridiculous. Everybody wants to make their kids eat healthily and so you make sacrifices where you can."
The mother said she spent an 'easy' $600 on food, $150 on gas, $370 on the mortgage per week, on top of additional expenses on clothes, power, internet, and other general things for kids.
"Because of Covid-19, it is compulsory to wear masks everywhere, but masks aren't cheap and you will need multiple masks for each kid. Every small bit counts when you have a limited income."
Weekly household costs were tipped to rise by $150 due to inflation with finance minister Grant Robertson signalling a further 2.5 per cent rise in the cost of living due to the war in Ukraine.
Robertson acknowledged that bouncing back will be slower than anticipated.
"The predictions that most economists had were that the supply chain constraints would ease off and we would start to see things get better after the first quarter of 2022. Most economists are now pushing that back to the second quarter of 2022 and potentially beyond."
The struggle of many Kiwi families has been shown in last month's Salvation Army's 2022 State of the Nation report that stated almost one in five children were living in benefit-dependent households in New Zealand - an increase since the start of the pandemic.
