KEY POINTS:
Chris Ollington and Kylie Craig faced a choice of having a family or buying a house in Auckland. The Onehunga couple chose the family - and have had to put the house on hold.
Mr Ollington, 38, earned $49,000 a year in his previous job as a subeditor for The Aucklander and has just started a new job as an organiser for the engineers' union at $57,000 - well above the average wage of $44,500.
But he says he and Ms Craig, 34, still can't afford even to think about a house until she goes back to work. She's at home now with 10-month-old Grace.
"We are thinking of having another one, so probably we'll wait till they hit school or something like that," Mr Ollington said.
The couple reckon they are 10 years behind many of their home-owning contemporaries because they spent 8 1/2 years in Europe.
"We didn't bring back lots of savings. We spent it all," Mr Ollington said.
"We pay $1250 a month in rent, which is still cheaper than $2000 for a mortgage. We simply don't have that extra $800 a month."
Family members have offered to help them get a deposit together, but they don't want to take on the kind of debt they would need to buy a typical $400,000 house around Onehunga.
"If we were both working it would make a big difference, but then we'd have to pay for childcare," Mr Ollington said. "So we have put home ownership on hold. Family is more important than owning a home."
The couple received about $80 a week in family assistance when Mr Ollington was at his previous job and expect that to drop to about $50 with his increased income.
"Before we worked out what we were going to get from family assistance, we were not making ends meet. Finally we are breaking even. The Government talks about savings, but we don't have anything left over.
"We'd love to buy a house. We buy a Lotto ticket every weekend. It's not that we are against owning a home, but it's just not possible at the moment."
