Food insecurity has gone up in the last year, says the Salvation Army. Photo: Salvation Army
New Zealand is backsliding on much of its social progress, as food and housing become increasingly difficult to afford, says the Salvation Army.
The charity's latest State of the Nation report highlights a cost of living crisis forcing families onto the benefit in record numbers.
"It's increasingly difficult for people to achieve those basics, to achieve food security, have enough kai to feed the family sustainably, to have an affordable house... Those things have got tougher in the last year," the charity's social policy director, Bonnie Robinson, said.
"Food insecurity has gone up in the last year, for about a quarter of all households they're going without food 'sometimes' or 'often.' For Pasifika families that's even worse, at about half of Pasifika families reporting they go without food regularly."
It was harder than ever for the Salvation Army to respond to those needs, she said.
"Government funding has been reduced and people are finding it more difficult to contribute to charitable organisations," Robinson said.
An increasing number of New Zealanders were turning to the benefit, with more than 400,000 people reporting a need for welfare support in December last year.
That is a higher number than the previous peak in 1998, though adjusted for the current population remains lower at 12 percent compared to 16 percent of the working population in 1998.
"It is the highest we've had for a very long time, and we know that with basic benefits it's very hard to meet your essential needs," Robinson said.
"When we've got more people needing welfare support because they've lost their jobs and the job market is very tight, that places more families and more children at risk of living in material hardship."
The report also found that violence against children had risen, with the number of children hospitalised from assault and neglect at its highest since 2014.
"There's never an excuse for violence against children but we do know what some of the drivers are," she said.
"For people whose lives are extremely stressful due to deprivation, due to their own previous trauma, alcohol and drug abuse... These can be drivers of harm to children, so we certainly have to do much better."
It also found that 32 percent of New Zealanders had been victims of crime.
"It is a big percentage but there is some good news in our crime statistics... Violent crime has been increasing but youth crime has actually been decreasing in the past decade," Robinson said.
"We need to look at how we support people to step away from crime and to deal with the things that drive people into crime and our recidivism rate."
Rent was another stress factor, becoming increasingly unaffordable compared to wages.
"In four in every 10 communities rental prices are pretty unaffordable, that means they're over 30 percent of the median income... If you're paying that much rent you don't have the money to provide all the other things you need to," Robinson explained.
"We're not seeing private rental prices coming down, and that is a major cause of hardship and poverty."
Robinson said it was vital that the government prioritise New Zealanders' basic needs.
Lieutenant Ian Hutson told Morning Report the mostly negative statistics and outcomes from the report were more than disappointing.
"What we are concerned about is that we as a nation and people need to really make sure that we all have the basic needs of life.
"When you see these statistics, you realise that we must do something to turn some of them around."
Hutson said he believed one of the most concerning findings was the "significant increase" in children going without food.
"One in four children reported going without food sometimes or often - and for Pacifica it's one in two."
Hutson said the use of foodbanks had also decline and believed it was partly because of the lack of funding.
"There's not the same resources to meet the needs that come to our doors."
He said he was concerned about what was happening around benefits and housing.
"[Families] are very often on inadequate levels of income and they have to pay the rent or whatever, and at the same time that is happening - if you look at the report in the housing section - rental affordability, particularly in the low income areas, is becoming less affordable and the price of rent has gone up more than the income has.
"We need to build more state houses... but it looks like the government is not going to invest in housing to the same extent [as last year]," he said
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