Hardship grant rate on the rise
Hardship grants required to pay rents are stacking up, as the Government is accused of working in the margins.
A total of $100 million has been spent on hardship grants in the three months to September, just over $20m more than a year ago.
And while the number of people on a benefit remains largely unchanged – 9.4 per cent of the working population – more are in debt with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), according to new figures.
Their release comes a year after the Labour-led Government was elected on a platform of compassion.
Minster of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said she would like to see the number of people on the benefit come down, and was encouraged by reduced numbers on the sole parent benefit and supported living payment.
The majority of hardship grants were to put food on the table, but most ($18.4m) were paid out for accommodation costs over the past three months.
Of these grants, $60,000,000 were debts incurred through recoverable grants and advance benefit payments, about a 25 per cent increase from a year ago.
‘‘Of the 500,000 people that are repaying loans to MSD, less than 1 per cent are paying over $80. Clients agree on the repayment amounts at the time the loan is given,’’ Sepuloni said.
‘‘It’s also important to note that not all people in receipt of assistance payments are beneficiaries. Recoverable assistance payments are also given to working people on low wages.’’
The Income’s Report released last week showed that housing absorbed between 30 per cent and half of incomes for the poorest 20 per cent – double the cost in the 1980s.
‘‘That’s appalling . . . we need to move beyond stop-gap solutions, which is why we’re building over 6400 additional permanent public housing places over the next four years.’’
Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) organiser Ricardo Menendez March said the latest figures showed inaction from a Government which had promised change.
‘‘Without addressing all the other factors, such as benefit levels, we’re just going to continue to see people at the bottom of the barrel . . . requiring more assistance.
‘‘It is no surprise to us that we are seeing this drastic increase in hardship numbers.
‘‘The reality is that when it comes to policy, people still get turned down when they come to reception for a food grant.’’