“I shouldn’t have anxiety to buy bread and milk,” Knibb said.
“Even when I go to pay for groceries and then I go to tap my card, I get this gut-wrenching feeling like s***, is there enough money in there?”
Alongside her fulltime job, Knibb picks up casual shifts at an emergency veterinary clinic, although extra work is not always available.
The family’s financial pressure has been compounded by their 3-year-old son Noah’s chronic lung condition, bronchiectasis.
Knibb fears the condition of their home could further compromise his health, but the family cannot afford improvements to ventilation and ageing windows. They have been forced to turn to online fundraising, hoping to raise $60,000 for the renovations.
“I’ve gotten to the point where my kids mean more to me than any amount of shame I can have from fundraising.”
Knibb has started cycling to work to save petrol and regularly contacts companies to explain why she cannot pay bills on time.
Noah has also been receiving medication through an intravenous line at home, preventing him from attending daycare despite the family continuing to pay fees.
Knibb said she had exhausted her sick and annual leave entitlements, as well as taking unpaid leave to care for him.
“Our rates have gone up, our power has gone up, everything has gone up … Nothing will go down. We don’t get Working for Families [Tax Credit] because of our income.
“I don’t want handouts, I want to do my job, I want to work, I want to earn our living and be able to live and we can’t.”
Knibb said she had sought help from Work and Income and healthy homes services but faced income restrictions and difficulties accessing assistance.
“I’m not saying like Government, please give me all this money. I’m saying we work, why is this not enough for us?”
Financial mentors ‘alarmed’ by growing hardship
FinCap senior policy adviser Jake Lilley said Knibb’s struggles reflected a growing concern among financial mentors, who were “alarmed” by the number of working New Zealanders seeking support to put food on the table.
The national charity supports financial mentors and budgeting services.
Lilley said mentors were increasingly supporting people who had previously been able to save for a house or contribute to KiwiSaver.
Even people on relatively high incomes were struggling with housing costs, unexpected expenses and increasingly unaffordable debts, he said.
“An increased cost of living is the most common factor listed as a reason for someone having difficulty with money in our records system,” Lilley said.
“Mentors have commented to FinCap that there is a cohort of working people who have far less options because of the thresholds for much-needed assistance.”
The number of people accessing financial mentoring had increased 57% since 2021, without a corresponding increase in ongoing funding, Lilley said.
FinCap was calling for greater funding from the Government and industries that referred people to financial mentors.
Knibb said she was “sick of watching politicians argue over election polls while families like mine are drowning”.
She challenged New Zealand’s politicians to “live on our income for 30 days”.
“Promises mean nothing, especially when they say they’re going to make things better.
“You shouldn’t have to work this hard to get nowhere.”
Knibb said her hope was to provide her children with a warm, dry home while reminding other struggling families they were not alone.
“I want people to be like, ‘I see you, we hear you, we’re here for you’.”
Politicians respond
National Party social development and employment spokesperson Louise Upston acknowledged the family was doing it “incredibly tough”.
“Families who are working hard and doing everything they can should feel they are able to get ahead,” she said.
Upston said the Government had delivered income tax relief, expanded FamilyBoost subsidies for early childhood education, and lifted the Working for Families income threshold.
She said falling inflation and interest rates had also helped ease pressure on household budgets.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Knibb’s experience was a “similar story” to what he was hearing across the country.
“I know there are working families who earn too much to qualify for support but are still struggling to make ends meet. The cost of housing, groceries and healthcare is putting enormous pressure on family budgets.”
Hipkins said Labour’s proposed Medicard would provide three free GP visits a year, while SolarSaver could help home owners reduce their power bills.
The party also wanted to outlaw price gouging on groceries, power and fuel.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said her party wanted to bring down the cost of groceries, power and transport, while helping families “live with dignity”.
“We have a plan to secure affordable, warm, healthy homes for everybody, and we will increase funding for our healthcare system, because quality homes and reliable healthcare are fundamental for the health and wellbeing of our tamariki.”
Act Party leader David Seymour said the long-term answer was to bring down living costs and grow wages, rather than have “more and more families” depend on government assistance.
“Success should mean fewer families needing support, not more families qualifying for it.”
Seymour said Act wanted to encourage greater competition in supermarkets and electricity generation, reduce taxes and regulations, and introduce a Carbon Tax Refund.
A New Zealand First spokesperson said the party recognised that “many working families” were struggling with the cost of living.
The party proposed increasing the Working for Families in-work tax credit from $97 to $217 a week and removing a fuel charge it said added 12c to 14c a litre to petrol prices.
Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong said Knibb was “right to be frustrated”.
“She’s doing everything you’d expect of her, working hard and raising a family, but still struggling to get by.”
Wong said her party’s proposed Citizen’s Income would provide financial support without restrictive income thresholds.
“They wouldn’t have to qualify for it. They’d get it automatically. In addition, our simplified child support top-ups give parents more security and choice,” Wong said.
Te Pāti Māori was approached for comment but was unable to provide a response.