The founder of Kiwi charity Nurturing Families says the cost‑of‑living crisis has pushed demand for essentials to unprecedented levels just as donations have fallen away.
The squeeze has left it struggling to keep up with demand. Some donation shelves are bare, forcing it to waitlist and delay help to families in need.
Through referrals from caseworkers, Nurturing Families provides essentials to struggling households, supplying everything from newborn starter kits to support for refugees, families in crisis, and those rebuilding their lives.
While the need for their services is always high, volunteers can usually keep up with the hundreds of weekly requests for smaller items. But recently, that’s changed.
Founder Tayla Nasmith posted a plea for help on Instagram after the charity ran out of several key items - particularly children’s and teenagers’ clothing - the result of multiple pressures converging at once.
“We are not only seeing an increase in need but also an increase in the quantities of items that we’re sending out to families,” Nasmith told the Herald.
“One, two years ago, we would only need to provide for the newborn. We’re now providing for whole family units, which means the quantities we’re handing out are just massive.”
The 25-year-old, who founded the Auckland-based charity when she was 12, says this is particularly concerning with winter on the way.
Nasmith says she is also seeing a slowing of donations of more expensive items like prams, cots and strollers, with people now opting to sell rather than give away.
“Items that didn’t used to be worth selling for $50 or $100. But now that spare change for a lot of families is really vital.
“But it’s donations of clothing as well, and those older kids’ clothes where people are listing bulk lots on TradeMe and Facebook Marketplace.”
Variety, which supports children living in poverty aged 5–17 with annual grants, is reporting the same trend of rising need as donations fall.
Wayne Howett, Interim Chief Executive for Variety, says it is seeing donations cut as much as 50% and more than 2000 kids are on its waiting list.
“People’s wallets are getting squeezed. So disposable discretionary income, that’s the first thing to go,” Howett explains.
“The frequency of donations largely remains the same, but the value during times like this drops up to 50%, which is massive.”
He says when donations drop, it’s usually when the need for Variety’s assistance goes up, and its cost in delivering services also increases.
Latest stats show that child poverty rates have increased 3% since 2020, with more than 14.3% of children, 160,000 kids, living in material hardship.
“Things aren’t getting easier. In fact, they’re getting worse,” says Howett.
“We’re not even in winter yet, and people are struggling to put clothes on their kids’ backs, and food in their tummies. Three out of four kids that we support put up with being cold in the winter, which is shocking.”
When the Herald visited Nurturing Families’ Henderson head office and distribution centre on Wednesday, shelves for boys’ clothes sizes 6-9 contained only one pair of pants, a single jacket and two pairs of pyjamas. There were no jackets or pants in size 9.
Nasmith says those empty shelves may look sad, but the real-world consequences are even harder to accept.
The organisation had just received a referral for an 8-year-old boy, recovering from a major operation, who needed clothing basics. He had to be waitlisted as the charity simply didn’t have clothing in that size to provide to him.
“So unfortunately, it means us having to say no to a referral for the time being until we can fulfil their needs,” says Nasmith.
She adds that helping doesn’t need to cost Kiwis and could be as easy as checking your car boot or cupboards for good-quality items you’ve been meaning to donate, and posting or dropping them to their Henderson distributor centre.
Howett says for those children living in poverty in New Zealand right now, there’s “far less room for mistakes”, and one unexpected expense or price increase can derail their stability.
“Poverty is not just having less money. It’s about having fewer safe margins in almost every corner of childhood.”
While for some the cost-of-living crisis might mean cutting the takeaway coffees or driving less, for the kids Variety supports, a few dollars can change their outcome entirely.
“This young boy recently said to us, ‘I can get some new socks now so that I don’t get teased about wearing my sister’s socks in class’,” Howett says.
Taking these kinds of worries away from Kiwi kids means they can focus on being a kid, Howett says, learning and having opportunities that might help them escape the cycle of poverty.
“Children in New Zealand shouldn’t have to worry about the cost-of-living crisis. They should be able to be kids.”
For more information on how to support Nurturing Families go to nurturingfamilies.nz, and for Variety go to variety.org.nz