Either in financial crisis, or on the brink

households who felt ‘‘secure’’, and the 34 per cent in financial difficulty already, and the 40 per cent who were ‘‘exposed’’ and teetering on the edge of crisis.

‘‘There’s a new group [that has] emerged we are calling exposed.

These are people who have been largely OK so far. They are disproportionately young.

‘‘They have got heavy consumer or mortgage debt,’’ Wrightson said.

‘‘It shows you in reality the impact the housing market has had. If you have an enormous mortgage, and if you have a large travel time, and cost to get to work, and if you are trying to raise children as well, then you are very, very close to the wind.’’

Despite the survey having been done last month, Wrightson said the hard times were not behind households, with continued redundancies expected. ‘‘It is generally accepted that income loss will get worse before it gets better.’’

Low confidence was leading to decisions informed by panic, Wrightson said, such as taking out extra loans or trying to access Kiwisaver funds.

The survey indicated how little emergency savings many households had when Covid-19 struck.

Research by the Child Poverty Action Group showed families who relied on benefits could find themselves hundreds of dollars short every week.

As part of its Covid-19 package, the Government increased benefits by $25 a week and temporarily doubled the winter energy payment.

‘‘While these increases are welcome, we find they are still nowhere near enough to unlock all children from poverty and allow them to thrive,’’ the group’s executive officer Georgie Craw said.

‘‘This means many families are forced to rely on temporary topups, foodbanks, and high interest loans, just to survive.’’

The insecure 40 per cent of households was a major concern, and may require a rethinking of benefits beyond the temporary move to introduce a payment of up to $490 a week for people who lose work as a result of Covid-19.