By Mahvash Ikram of RNZ
A woman says she was forced to work while battling cancer to avoid falling behind on her mortgage and bills.
Meanwhile a young mum says she’s burnt out but hasn’t been able to take time off from work in more than two years because she can’t afford it.
New research shows four in five people are suffering negative impacts because of the rising cost of living.
Of those, half claimed negative effects on their mental health, the Employers and Manufacturer’s Association (EMA) 2024 Workplace Wellbeing survey found. A quarter (26%) said it had worsened their physical health.
Lee was diagnosed with cancer in December 2023. She told First Up she kept working while undergoing chemotherapy.
She said she taking a break from her fulltime job was not an option.
“I didn’t have a choice, I had to work because the expenses I incur and the prices of things going up so much, my savings are at a minimum.
“And I felt the need to work to keep. My head above water. To retain my home because I have a mortgage I didn’t have a choice but to work.”
Lee was one of many Kiwis who believed taking a break from work, even for health reasons, wasn’t a choice.
EMA head of advocacy and strategy Alan McDonald said most people were suffering because of the cost-of-living crisis.
“Two third of employees said that they were concerned for their mental health and the wellbeing of their families because of the economic pressures.”
“Actually, four out of five employees highlighted the cost of living crisis as something that was having some kind of impact on them. And then obviously they’re taking that back into their mental health and the wellbeing of their families.”
According to the survey, more than 52% were concerned they were at the risk of burnout at work.
One of these is Jordan Tate.
Two weeks ago, the doctor confirmed her fears and told her she was going through burnout.
“Burnout is like just in your physical being, you’re just exhausted, you’re tired. It shows in your attitude. It shows emotionally, physically,” she said.
“Getting up in the morning is a solid chore and you have to get up because you have people relying on you.
“You just want to just stop the planet and get off.”
Jordan works as a cook at her daughters’ early childhood centre in Wairarapa and said she had not been able to take a day off sick since 2022.
“I’ve worked there for almost two-and-a-half years, I haven’t actually taken the day off sick for myself. I use my sick days, as does my husband, for our children when they’re sick or can’t be at the centre.”
She is a trained chef, but works at the daycare only because it means she gets a discount for her children.
“I’m a professional chef and I used to be in fine dining restaurants and now I work at a daycare because I need a discount to keep my kids in daycare. It blows my mind.”
She said taking time off to slow down was not an option.
“Taking off one of my precious sick days for myself doesn’t deem worthy enough. It has to be for my kids. I don’t get enough to cover.”
MacDonald said employers who wanted to help their workers could start by looking out for signs and provide basic support to get people back on their feet.
“You just see it in people that in the office they just snap a bit or are just a little bit more temperamental than they might normally be, and that’s probably a sign that they are under some stress and it’s worth just checking in and see how things are going.”
Tate said there was light at the end of the tunnel for her, but she was not quite there yet.
“It’s going get worse before it gets better.”
“The Government – I don’t trust that they have the best intention for people, and I don’t trust that they’re helping them in any way.
“People need help, like effective immediately. We are scraping the bottom of the barrel, but there are people doing way worse than us.”
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