If you’re of a certain age, you might remember the day the letter arrived to let you know you were eligible for government superannuation payments. Perhaps it marked the beginning of your retirement ‒ a time of excitement for some and trepidation for others. For many older New Zealanders, that money is a lifeline ‒ especially during this period of high inflation. But a significant portion of Kiwis find that the super is surplus to their needs.
Liz Greive remembers well the day she received the letter. “My first reaction was, ‘Gosh, I’m fortunate ‒ this is going to make little impact on my life.’ But then I thought, ‘So many families are struggling, and if I could physically take this money and give it to them, I know from my past experience what an impact that would have on their kids’ lives.’”
A former social worker, Liz has seen first-hand just how badly poverty hinders children’s opportunities to succeed. She says the problem today is more urgent than it’s ever been. “One in five of our kids is living in poverty, through no fault of their own. My own children and grandchildren are fine. They have had choices throughout their lives, even though we were not at all well off for a good part of their childhood. But many others don’t even have shoes or enough food, and their prospects are very limited.”
Uneven chances
Generational inequality in New Zealand is well documented. In Aotearoa, you’re three times more likely to be living in material hardship if you’re a child than if you’re over 65 years old.
This is an unusual feature of our society ‒ in a 2021 comparison with 23 European countries, we were one of only four which show this pattern of inequality.
Liz had an epiphany on that day her “super” letter arrived. “I thought to myself, ‘I can’t be the only person in this position.’ There are nearly a million people receiving the pension in New Zealand. Some of them are still working, or they might have been fortunate enough to accumulate wealth so they have something to spare.”
The idea for Share My Super was born. The registered charity makes it easy for older people, who don’t need all of their pension, to donate it to vetted organisations helping children in poverty. Liz is able to fund 100% of the operational expenses so everything donated goes to help children.
Superannuant superheroes
Share My Super’s donors have now raised more than $1.3 million for 11 of New Zealand’s most impactful and outstanding organisations – Ako Mātātupu: Teach First NZ, Digital Future Aotearoa, KidsCan, First Foundation, Pillars, Wellington City Mission, Te Pā, Women’s Refuge, Hillary Outdoors, Variety and Child Poverty Action Group.
Liz says donors tell her they feel excited to be part of a movement that’s lifting up kids, and through them, New Zealand. “I’m not saying that life has been easy for people of my generation, but we were able to have a better life than our parents and our grandparents. And this is probably now the first generation where that isn’t happening. We can help change that.”
Read more at www.sharemysuper.org.nz/joinme.