Christchurch-based university student Maya Hansen told The Spinoff she had contacted MSD in mid-December seeking food assistance while waiting for her benefit to be processed. Hansen had applied for Jobseeker Support Student Hardship (JSSH), designed to support students with their living costs on study breaks lasting longer than three weeks, earlier in December. On its website, MSD advises students to apply for a JSSH three weeks before a study break begins, and to allow for a one-week shutdown period.<\/p>\n
When a week passed and her application was still being processed, Hansen applied for food assistance through the Special Needs Grant Programme. The programme offers one-off grants loaded onto a payment card to cover essential and emergency costs, which MSD\u2019s website lists as including the likes of medical treatment, a driver\u2019s licence and food.<\/p>\n
The letter from MSD to Hansen.<\/p>\n
That assistance was granted to Hansen on December 24, but while still awaiting the JSSH, she applied for another food grant in early January. On January 8, she received a letter from MSD informing her that her application had been declined on the basis of food not being an \u201cessential need\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hansen told The Spinoff she had been out of work for four weeks when she was advised that her food assistance grant had been declined. \u201cI didn\u2019t think [processing the application] would take that long, and the first week that I missed my pay, they [MSD] connected money to a grocery card,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cTwo weeks later, I asked for more, and they said I had reached my monthly allowance, which was $100.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said I could go to a food bank or reach out to my family, which I had already been doing for weeks,\u201d Hansen said. Reaching out for financial assistance had \u201cabsolutely\u201d been a strain on family, she said. Hansen was later granted food assistance on January 12, and as of January 13, Hansen has received the JSSH benefit, as well as backdated payments.<\/p>\n
Photo: Rebekah Parsons-King<\/p>\n
In a statement, MSD\u2019s contact centre and digital services general manager Karl Oliveira told The Spinoff the ministry \u201capologise for the error\u201d and \u201cthe letter sent to the student was incorrect and should not have been sent\u201d. MSD \u201care reinforcing with staff the importance of selecting the correct decline reasons to ensure our communications accurately reflect legislation and the support available\u201d, the statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MSD encourages \u201canyone who is struggling to afford food \u2026 to contact us so we can look at what help may be available to them\u201d. Special needs grants don\u2019t need to be paid back, and applicants don\u2019t need to be on a benefit to apply.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time a beneficiary has been told that food is \u201cnot an essential need\u201d. In April 2021, a Lower Hutt-based beneficiary received a similar decline letter to Hansen. The client told Newshub<\/a> that an MSD operator had informed her she would not receive a food grant after spending previous grants on vet bills, but then a letter arrived stating that the reason was that food was not an essential need. The ministry said it was sent in error.<\/p>\n In error or not, people in need are increasingly having their requests for assistance declined, according to advocates. Kay Bereton, of the Beneficiaries and Unwaged Workers Trust, told The Spinoff that MSD\u2019s \u201ctightening up\u201d of processing hardship grants had seen \u201chuge\u201d demand placed on food banks. Bereton\u2019s small local food bank in Nelson, like others around the country, has had to restrict the number of food parcels given to families and individuals to keep up with community needs, she said. \u201cSo then people rely on the kindness of strangers, things like Kai Rescue, and stealing \u2013 that\u2019s what it pushes people to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor a lot of people, it\u2019s a choice between eating and paying their rent, if they\u2019re lucky enough to have a house,\u201d Bereton said. \u201cWe do our best to make sure that people who come and ask us for food don\u2019t feel shamed, but it\u2019s hard to admit that you\u2019re not able to feed yourself or your family.\u201d She said some people forgo seeking hardship assistance from MSD, for worry of waiting for hours over the phone to be rejected. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty awful being rejected face-to-face as well,\u201d Bereton said. \u201cIt\u2019s so demeaning.\u201d<\/p>\nA parcel from a H\u0101wera food bank, photographed in 2020.<\/p>\n