Presbyterian Support Northern’s winter appeal helps families manage the increasing costs of living. Photo / 123rf, File
Presbyterian Support Northern’s winter appeal helps families manage the increasing costs of living. Photo / 123rf, File
OPINION
The cost of living crisis is hitting hard with more and more families struggling to pay the bills and needing financial support.
When I started work as a financial accountant at Presbyterian Support Northern (PSN) 35 years ago, it was a different world money-wise. Housing and basic expenses werecheaper and cash transactions ruled the day. Very few people had a credit card. Hire purchase was much, much harder to get and there were no payday loans, so people carried a lot less debt. Eftpos was just coming in and people were much more aware of how much money they had.
The PSN budgeting service had 112 clients and four budgeters. There were no computers and everything was done manually using carbon paper.
Our clients were mainly city people who were renting, and we had a large group of people living rough.
In my experience, Ruth Richardson’s “Mother of all Budgets” in 1991 was a turning point for our most vulnerable. Social welfare benefits were reduced and Housing New Zealand rentals increased to market rates. Everything became much tougher for our clients. Attitudes of staff at Work and Income New Zealand hardened.
Our foodbank went into overdrive. By the mid-2000s, credit card debts and instant finance were biting hard. The 2007 financial crisis was a further blow.
Some of our clients lost their life savings, homes and livelihoods. There was a lot of heartbreak – we were dealing with grief as well as financial problems.
More than three decades on, I’m proud there are many people who have managed to hang on to their homes, stayed solvent or managed to turn their financial lives around with our help.
Now I’m working for PSN’s “total money management” and budgeting service, which has more than triple the number of clients as in the 1980s, and two budgeters. PSN also has four financial mentors in the wider Auckland area. Total money management is mainly for people who don’t have or can’t manage a bank account and are living under increased levels of hardship. The team works closely with the Auckland City Mission, Lifewise NZ, Kāinga Ora, Emerge Aotearoa Housing (emergency housing) and Te Pā.
Some people go on to total money management short-term just to get the hang of using a money card, including people out of a mental health ward or prison. Many of our clients are longer-term, with sight or hearing loss, brain injuries, or lack communication skills. For people who are vulnerable because of health issues like mental and physical disabilities, we can provide protection by keeping their financial life stable.
Sadly, living rough has become generational. We’re now seeing our former clients’ children, and sometimes their grandchildren, which is really sad.
We have other homeless people who are mainly living in emergency housing now, but they still go back to the streets during the daytime as that’s where their friends and family are.
With a number of clients, there’s a lot of advocacy as people try to take advantage because some of them are not literate. It’s difficult, but there’s always good somewhere in every person.
I remember Phil (not his real name) who came to us underweight, looking rough, and living on the street. I knew he had a good brain from our conversations so I encouraged him to do some learning. He gave up drinking and came into our foodbank as a volunteer.
When the foodbank manager left, Phil took over management and did a great job. He enrolled at AUT and gained confidence from doing well. He passed all his exams and eventually married, started a business and bought a home. He’s flourished since then, but he hasn’t forgotten his connections and still helps out where he can.
There is still much to be done. At Family Works budgeting services, we have many waged clients who can’t cope with middle-income wages. The higher cost of living and increased mortgage rates have caused hardship and much more stress. Sometimes that’s because of poor financial choices or because they’re not good at managing themselves.
Sometimes, it’s because there’s not enough money to cover their basic living costs.
Often people have never sat down and done a budget and, when we do one, it comes as a real shock that they’re not as rich as they thought.
Over the years, I have sometimes seen three generations of the same family as clients send their children and grandchildren in to see me to ensure they don’t repeat the same mistakes.
After 35 years of helping people to manage their money, I can see two key opportunities for positive change on a wider scale.
I’d love to see budgeting taught in schools and every prison turned into a learning centre.
Everyone, no matter their background and circumstances, should know how to read and write, budget and have basic living skills such as negotiating a tenancy agreement and managing a bank account.
- Maureen Little is a co-ordinator with total money management, a service provided by Presbyterian Support Northern through its Family Works service. Donations can be made here
