Manamea Pita says trying to cope with rising living costs caused her stress and excruciating headaches. Photo / Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
For the Pita family, with 12 people living in a four-bedroom home and a limited income, the rising cost of living is taking a very real toll.
Manamea Pita is a migrant from Tuvalu’s Vaitupu and Nukulaelae villages, and now she’s living in the Tauranga suburb of Parkvale with her husband and their six children.
She looks after four more children from her extended family, with the children aged from 2 years to 15.
“We are struggling … struggling with petrol and food on a weekly basis.
“We’re not financially stable ourselves, but we always tend to lend a hand.”
Food prices are rapidly rising in New Zealand, with Stats NZ data out yesterday showing an overall 12.5 per cent increase in the year ending June. Fruit and vegetables were 22 per cent more expensive than a year earlier, while grocery costs were up 12.5 per cent and meat 11 per cent.
Card spending data, also released yesterday, showed a rebound for retail in June but core spending remained flat. Westpac senior economist Darren Gibbs said this reflected ongoing pressure on household finances,the Herald reported.
As a stay-at-home mum, Pita does all the school runs, the cooking and cleaning, and makes sure her children and the nieces and nephews are well looked after and loved.
Doing it all on a very limited income had been stressful, and Pita said the stress also caused mental health issues and excruciating headaches. She had counselling but says it didn’t sit right with her culture and beliefs.
Pita then sought help from the Pacific Island Community Trust Tauranga.
The trust is a health and social service that aims to give primarily Pasifika families practical support in a way that does fit with their cultures and beliefs.
It has 18 staff, offering a mobile nursing service, outpatient advocacy, help with emergency housing and a range of other support, all using Pasifika models of care.
Since December, Pita’s been part of the WhānauOra programme the trust offers, which means the income from her husband’s full-time job goes straight to the programme and a budget adviser uses it to pay costs such as rent and bills.
Pita receives $501 through Working for Families and uses that money for food and other everyday items.
Their limited income and rising costs mean the family have ended up in debt.
“We can’t afford the children’s clothes and emergency essential needs when they need it in an instant so I have to then turn to layby and Afterpay, adding more financial strain.”