More struggling New Zealanders are being turned down for all categories of emergency assistance, with the Ministry of Social Development attributing the rise in declines to \u2018strengthened hardship approvals\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The rate of New Zealanders in financial hardship having their emergency food grant applications declined has risen by 60% since 2023, data released to The Spinoff under the Official Information Act has revealed. Declines have risen across the board, with 66% more applications for all categories of special needs grants being turned down than two years ago.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD)\u2019s Special Needs Grant Programme offers one-off grants loaded onto a payment card to cover essential and emergency costs such as food, medical treatment and housing, and New Zealanders do not need to already be receiving a benefit to apply.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for MSD said the rise in declined applications was due to the ministry having \u201cstrengthened hardship approvals\u201d by returning to pre-Covid processes in December 2023. \u201cBefore Covid, managers were required to sign off a range of hardship grants,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cThese practices were temporarily waived during the Covid response. This was never intended to be a permanent change.\u201d<\/p>\n
A parcel from a H\u0101wera food bank, photographed in 2020 (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom December 2023, following a decision during Covid to temporarily waive this requirement, manager approval for hardship grants was again required in certain situations, such as when clients don\u2019t have verified ID or for direct payments into bank accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Food is by far the largest category of grant application made across the three years for which The Spinoff asked for data, with 4.15 million in total in 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 2023, 3.96% of the 1,387,359 applications made for food grants were declined. In 2024, slightly fewer food grant applications were made (1,359,171) but the rate of declines had risen to 6.28% and by 2025, applications had risen and so had declines, making up 6.33% of the 1,401,600.<\/p>\n
As MSD tightens access to food grants, community advocates say they\u2019re struggling to keep up with a \u201chuge increase in demand\u201d. In January, Kay Bereton of the Beneficiaries and Unwaged Workers Trust told The Spinoff that her local food bank in Nelson had had to restrict its offerings to one food parcel a month per household. \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 Bereton said. \u201cIt\u2019s really frustrating, and really sad.\u201d<\/p>\n
MSD\u2019s limits on accessibility mean that over a six-month period, singles who fall under the income limit can receive $200 in food grants. \u201cIf you\u2019re over that $200, you pretty much get a straight no these days,\u201d Bereton said. In the same period, couples receive $300, families with one or two dependent children receive $450, and families with three or more dependent children receive $550 \u2013 these limits can be exceeded for \u201cexceptional circumstances\u201d. \u201cFor a lot of people, it\u2019s every day that they can\u2019t afford food,\u201d Bereton said.<\/p>\n
Special needs grants for food are capped at a certain amount per six-month period.<\/p>\n
Bereton said experience of rejection, and the feeling of it being a lottery whether you get a sympathetic or dismissive MSD case manager, had put a lot of New Zealanders off applying for food grants in the first place. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty awful being rejected face-to-face as well,\u201d Bereton said. \u201cIt\u2019s so demeaning.\u201d<\/p>\n
In November 2025, a report on community food support from Kore Hiakai (Zero Hunger Collective) noted that 25% of New Zealanders experienced ongoing food insecurity. \u201cWhile the level of food insecurity peaked during the pandemic lockdowns, a rising baseline of food insecurity is spreading across the motu,\u201d the report read. It recommended increases to benefits and better access to special needs grants as methods to combat food insecurity. The Salvation Army\u2019s 2026 State of the Nation report said that in 2025, the charity had distributed 7% more food parcels than in 2024 and almost 50% more than in 2019.<\/p>\n
Social development minister Louise Upston told The Spinoff she was confident that New Zealanders experiencing financial hardship were receiving adequate support. \u201cI accept it\u2019s really challenging right now, and continues to be for some families [in the] tail end of a recession,\u201d Upston said. \u201cBut I\u2019m confident that the special needs grant process is available and getting support to where it is needed most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Social development minister Louise Upston (Photo: Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)
\nDeclined emergency housing grants also on the rise<\/p>\n