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This story was originally posted on RNZ.co.nz and is being republished with permission.
Some recipients will lose more than $ 60 of their weekly payment next month, even though demand for food banks and emergency assistance is at record levels.
The government doubled the winter power payment this year to soften the economic impact of Covid-19, but it will run out on October 1.
Child Action Poverty Group research shows that the income of all households receiving benefits and / or retirement will decrease by $ 63 per week for families and couples, and $ 41 per week for single adults.
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The weekly income of a single parent with a child who rents in a low-income suburb in Auckland is $ 25 below the poverty line, next month it will drop to $ 90.
Agnes, a local from Ōtara, said that the benefit rates were impossible to live with and, although the Winter Power Payment had given her a break for the past four months, it still wasn’t enough.
“The Winter Energy Payment must be extended, especially with the Covid pandemic that is happening right now, the government, and especially our finance minister and our social development minister, should see the struggles that everyone is living in. this moment and starting don’t give a damn about us and the people. “
The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and Auckland Poverty Action are backing Agnes’ call: CPAG researcher Janet McAllister said the payment had not doubled this year due to winter energy, but to Covid.
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The government doubled the winter power payment this year to soften the impact of Covid-19, but it will run out on October 1.
“Most of our financially vulnerable families with children no longer have enough money, and on October 1 their income is going to fall off a cliff: $ 63 a week for families with very little is a huge amount to lose. . “
Food banks are reporting record demand and the number of beneficiaries had its biggest jump in 24 years in April.
The chair of the government’s own Social Welfare Expert Advisory Group, Cindy Kiro, said the welfare system was simply not working.
“I don’t think there can be any doubt that when people are willing to sacrifice their dignity by waiting in line for hours on end, something is wrong.”
She said that while increasing the winter energy payment was not the complete answer, it was a start.
“Whatever justification you want to use people to pay people who desperately need more money, more money is fine by me; you can call it a Covid salary extension, you can call it a Covid hardship extension, you can Call it a ‘summer’ winter pay, I don’t care what you call it. “
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said there were no plans to keep the money, but it was not the only boost recipients received as part of the government’s $ 5 billion package for families.
“We have indexed benefits to wages, which will cause them to go up: we increased benefits, we introduced the best down payment and a variety of other things … we only looked at single parents on the benefit, compared to when we entered the government about 85,000 single parents are about $ 101 better than when we took office. “
Agnes said those initiatives weren’t enough and warned that the dire need for the basics would only get worse in a month.
“If you think things are going bad now with people asking for emergency assistance, like food grants, and also people receiving assistance from food banks, imagine what it will be like when the Winter Power Payment stops.”
This story was originally posted on RNZ.co.nz and is being republished with permission.
