Media release: Vulnerable children, whānau and community services under huge pressure from surging fuel costs, a new survey finds

Children and whānau, and the social services supporting them, need urgent financial support to ease significant impacts from surging fuel prices, warns social service provider peak body Te Pai Ora SSPA.

Te Pai Ora SSPA is today releasing findings from its survey of community-based social service providers on the impacts of the fuel crisis. The survey results are a tough read, says Kaiwhakahaere Matua Chief Executive Belinda Himiona.

“Providers told us that social services and the children and whānau we serve are under enormous, and growing, pressure as fuel costs remain at record levels,” she says.

The findings reveal that community-based providers adapted quickly to rising costs and are trying their best to wrap around children and whānau so they can continue to receive critical services.

“Providers have told us that they are going as far as they can to maintain services to children and whānau. This has included meeting whānau in their homes, providing fuel vouchers and even running fundraisers to ease financial stress and so whānau can access critical support,” Belinda explains.

“But providers are doing this tough, and without any relief from Government the current situation is unsustainable, particularly if these prices stay at this level into the foreseeable future.”

Despite the significant challenges faced by organisations, many providers remained more concerned about the situation for whānau they support. “These are families who were already stretched by the cost-of-living crisis and are now at breaking point. They can no longer afford to drive to critical appointments, and they are having to make impossible choices between fuel and food. These challenges are even more acute for those living in rural and remote communities,” Belinda explains.

Te Pai Ora SSPA is calling for urgent, targeted support from Government to address this growing crisis, particularly as we move into winter. “We want to see relief for whānau and tamariki to ease the financial pressures and to enable access to critical social services. We are also requesting immediate, targeted financial support to social service providers to ease the burden of prolonged, high fuel prices. Going forward we are asking for government contracts to be inflation-adjusted to ease rising costs across the sector and to enable resilience to future shocks,” Belinda says.

“The fuel crisis is bigger than a fuel supply issue. It is an affordability issue and one that is having serious social impacts,” Belinda warns. “Without relief, our most vulnerable will face significant consequences and our community providers will struggle to respond to these growing needs.”