Diane Robertson: Changing face of desperation as tough times hit home

Like the Salvation Army, quoted in the Herald article, "Emergency food grant costs rise 75 per cent", the Auckland City Mission has also seen evidence of the increased pressure on low-income families.

The City Mission's social services have experienced a 50 per cent increase in demand for food parcels in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year.

Food banks are a last resort for people in desperate need and, over recent months, more people are asking for help for the first time in their lives. It isn't personal crises driving these people to the food banks, it's the economic crisis - and it's hitting hard. Wave after wave of people are turning to charities for the first time to meet their everyday needs.

The first wave included cleaners and labourers. There are many families in Auckland who get by because mum or dad has a part-time cleaning or labouring job.

As individuals and companies have trimmed their expenses and the building industry has slowed down, those jobs have disappeared. Such jobs don't pay much, but when the main earner in the house is earning the minimum wage, the few dollars extra is the difference between three meals a day and taking a child to the doctor.

The second wave was single people. In the inner city, there are plenty of single people living from pay to pay. Many are young and have student loans or credit card debts, but they're getting by. Then they lose their jobs and have to wait for a benefit. They are too optimistic about getting another job and often don't know where to seek help. By the time they ask for help, they are behind in their rent and unable to buy necessities.

There's now a third wave - couples who were doing well, two-income families, considered good money managers. In a household with two minimum wage jobs, one income often goes to pay the rent or mortgage, the other to cover everything else. When one or both jobs are lost, the speed at which these families move from proud to desperate is frightening.

Generations of families have been affected by the recession. There are many elderly couples who have lost their savings. They're now less able to manage their expenses and not in a position to help their children and grandchildren if they get into difficulties.

It's not easy to ask for charity. It's a difficult shift in thinking.

For so long many have believed that people asking for charity were not trying to help themselves - that they should take personal responsibility and get a job. The deepening recession has changed that thinking.

Many people will only let you know they are in trouble when they have got to the point where they cannot see how they can go on. A food parcel gives everyone a breather - providing enough to feed everyone in the house for about eight days. In that time, benefit entitlements can be sorted; budgets can be reworked; landlords, utility suppliers, banks and loan companies negotiated with.

It's hard, it's often humiliating, and it's happening to people who never thought they would need help. We're not expecting things to get better soon. These are tough times. The best investment we can make now is to look after our most vulnerable.

* Diane Robertson is CEO of the Auckland City Mission.