‘Things have got tougher’ – Salvation Army releases latest State of the Nation report
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.
400 000 on welfare.
1 in 4 children going hungry.
Violence against children is rising.
Homelessness is rising.
Inequality is rising.
40% of communities have unaffordable rents.
Unemployment at 5.1% impacts Māori at 9.7% and Pacifica at 10.7%
Let’s be honest.
This Government doesn’t care about poor people.
Has anyone considered the possibility that Chris Luxon just hates New Zealand and New Zealanders?
He sends his kids to the American education system, he holidays in Hawaii and he loves Trump.
He has called NZers whiney and he puts us down when he’s overseas.
He infamously called poor people ‘Bottom feeders’.
I think he sees NZ the way he saw Air NZ.
First class was his class, business class are acceptable, economy class are ordinary while everyone who cant afford a ticket are bottom feeders.
He probably joked with the Pilots because he thought that was him talking with the working classes.
I don’t think Luxon actually likes New Zealand or New Zealanders.
Luxon crashed the economy with his Austerity Budget and is now blaming beneficiaries for burning in the fire he started!
I find the idea that we should actively punish Beneficiaries who are the collateral damage to his ideological policy pretty sickening…
…put aside the fact that Luxon is a rich prick, look at what he has done to the economy and then consider his lecturing towards beneficiaries:
He crashed the economy with an austerity budget that borrowed more for tax cuts and loopholes we couldn’t afford, and you is lecturing the poor?
HE HAS DONE THIS!!!
Blaming the victims of his economic policy is outrageous!
National are pushing 350,000 jobseekers to find work when there is no work because you collapsed the economy!
There are less than 11,000 jobs on Trademe and less than 5000 on Seek and National are demanding new sanctions against beneficiaries after sacking 9520 public sector workers!
Luxon is an evangelical Christian who believes in Prosperity Theology, it’s the same grift Bishop Brian Tamaki is part of, you are rich because Jesus has blessed you.
Luxon sees his 7 properties (he sold 3 right after the law changed and made huge money tax free from that decision) as a blessing from God and that’s why when he was challenged over getting extra over his housing allowance and Tesla subsidy, he could only say “I’m entitled”, because to refuse crowing about your good fortune and benefits is an affront to God who is giving him these blessings because Jesus lives him extra so much.
He’s a Christian nut job who wishes he was American who now wants to blame beneficiaries for an economy he has wrecked.
All he has is Nicola Willis, the right wing acolyte from the NZ Initiative to try and ‘save’ the Economy when all she has as a solution is more amputation of the State.
This is who we are now.
This is what we is.
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Yes Martyn the poor governance and state of our country is squarely on Luxons shoulders, no excuses.
NZ was poor and badly managed well before Luxon entered Parliament, or even took over Air NZ.
Oh, you mean by Key, Bolger and Shipley? I agree.
Quick…very sharp Joy…great points.
Many more PMs than just those three…
You are right…How about English, Joyce, McCully and Bennett to add just a few more …
Must have missed Joyce, McCully and Bennett as Pms. I might add the useless tossers like Ardern and Hipkins tho.
And Lange and his master Douglas, and Clark and Ardern and Hipkins who failed to reverse the privatizations by force if necessary.
Lange in particular was responsible for the decline of our education system and it has struggled to get back on track . Education is the path to a better future and would help stem gamg growth and make people better employees.
Also help with spelling eh
We are talking about now Ada, keep up.
Don’t you know that the Libertarian fantasy holds the principle of ” self-ownership ” ?
No one told the kids.
Time to learn how to fish, hunt and grow again.
Maybe teach those subjects at school ?
useful skills to know, but the practical section of the exams could get brutal.
Are you afraid Ada.? It would be good if you just didn’t put in short criticisms but added some doable ideas to help those being downgraded.
I suspect that most can grow the high value plant but growing useful amounts of edible food is a bit more difficult, you need security with you living circumstances for a start although community gardens provide a option in some areas. While my diet doesn’t require hunting or fishing I have no objections if others use those methods although I would prefer that most people had decent reliable jobs so that they can afford to supply most of their diet and they can enjoy hunting or fishing without being dependent on it to survive.
you don’t need a degree to hoard capital and bid up the price of assets.
You may be right Martyn. Luxon doesn’t identify as a NZder. He’s just the manager and like many managers, isn’t very good. His underlings keep everything going, not him. He wasn’t a spectacular success in his last job because he didn’t know any more about aircraft than he does about NZders.
Whether they’ll be queuing up to off him lucrative posts after politics is the question.
He’ll need to get his resume up to date and we all know, they can be full of half truths.
He’ll have to turn up on time to the interview, not in his pyjamas.
At the moment, we the NZ public including the poor, are his case managers and to be honest, we’ve seen much better candidates. He doesn’t stand out as exceptional. He’s weak, has no wish to learn and fails to adjust his views when the real situation is pointed out to him.
The Salvations Army’s excellent state of the nation report, falls on deaf ears. He has a closed mind.
Next please.
‘Education is the path to a better future and would help stem gamg (gang)growth and make people better employees.’
Also teaches people to think and not vote for National or ACT.
Also teaches employees to be aware of exploitation and to organise themselves to get fair wages and workiing conditions.
Poverty getting the climate change treatment here — we don’t want to look at both. Or –the everything. We prefer pleasingness, despite the shorter track to extinction that involves.
It’s just the market 🙂