Barnardos says Government missed a big opportunity to alleviate poverty in today’s budget.

The Chief Executive of Barnardos, one of Aotearoa’s largest children’s charities, Mike Munnelly says it was great to see a recognition of the cost of living crisis in Aotearoa.

The $350 one-off payment will help some low-income families but excludes those on a core benefit, who are some of the most in need.

“There is no doubt that some of the initiatives announced today will help some. It was great to see support for sole parents, dental care, transport costs and youth homelessness. One of the quickest and easiest ways to consistently bring whānau and tamariki out of poverty is to increase benefits and keep them indexed at the cost of living. That didn’t happen today.

“Every day Barnardos sees people who cannot provide their children with enough food and adequate housing. We see parents having to make decisions about whether to pay for nappies or food, having to scrap together petrol money to take their child to the doctor.”

The big worry is that the gains that have been made to date in the alleviation of poverty are in danger of being lost if the government doesn’t continue to tackle the need for a living income.