Grandparent-carers count the cost of a broken Budget pledge

Virginia Peebles, carer for grandson James, says she has been let down over caregiver rates. Picture / Kenny Rodger

Grandparents raising grandchildren say they feel "betrayed" by the Government's failure to carry out an election promise to pay some of them the same as other foster parents.

Social Development Minister David Benson-Pope told Otago pensioners Adrian and Leonie Vogel last December that the "long-standing anomaly" between relatives and non-kin foster parents would be addressed in this year's Budget.

Labour's social policy at the last election, launched by Prime Minister Helen Clark at an Otahuhu family centre last September, promised that about 700 grandparent-carers receiving superannuation would get the same payments as other foster parents.

But the Budget has come and gone with nothing for grandparents.

At present they and other "kin carers" get only the unsupported child benefit of between $97 and $133 a week, an average of about $20 a week less than the foster care rates.

Mangere grandmother Virginia Peebles, 65, who has cared for her 13-year-old grandson James single-handedly since her husband went into hospital after a stroke 3 1/2 years ago, said she struggled to cope on her present income of $327 a week - $203 a week for her half of the couple's super, plus $124 in unsupported child benefit.

"If you saw my lace curtains at the moment ... I wouldn't dare wash them because they would fall apart," she said.

"If I got the higher rates, I would be able to say, 'Right, in two months I could buy those new curtains'. It would mean that we could put money aside to have a holiday."

James, who is almost 2m, has Asperger's syndrome and the mental powers of an eight-year-old. He attends Mt Richmond Special School.

At first, both Mrs Peebles and her husband were working, but her husband's stroke changed that. Mrs Peebles herself has arthritis and has had both hips and both knees replaced.

She said she had been "waiting very patiently" for the extra $20 a week and felt "very let down" when there was nothing in the Budget.

"We are swept under the carpet and not considered," she said.

"Most of us have taken these children on because there was in some respects no choice. If we didn't do it, they would be costing the Government a fortune."

Mr Vogel, 74, a former electricity linesman who emailed the Herald about the issue, said he and his wife Leonie, 61, supported two grand-daughters aged 17 and 13 on their pension and unsupported child benefit. They live in a former school between Oamaru and Dunedin.

He said when they visited Work and Income NZ to find out about the extra cash they were told there was "nothing going".

Mr Benson-Pope said he recognised there was "an inherent unfairness" for grandparents under the present arrangement.

"I remain committed to extending the support provided for grandparents raising grandchildren and other carers on a pension, in particular those taking on caring due to family breakdown, to provide them with the sort of allowances provided to foster parents," he said.

"I have asked officials to provide advice on options to better align the unsupported child's benefit and foster care allowance provisions. This work is under way but is not yet complete.

"Additionally, I can confirm that grandparents who become the main carer for a child may currently be entitled to the in-work payment and the accommodation supplement under the Working for Families package," he said.

CARE GAP

* The promise:
Grandparent-carers on superannuation would get the same payments as other foster parents - between $111 and $159 a week depending on the child's age.

* The reality:
Kin carers continue to get about $20 a week less than the foster care rates.