Warwick Smith/Stuff
Boon was diagnosed with Friedreich s Ataxia when he was 17. As the disease progressed it made walking and talking increasingly harder, and also affected his hearing. That’s where my people were: the creatives and the outspoken. But it was the welfare system, in part, that eventually forced me to leave. I worked for as long as I could as an administrator at the Ministry of Health, between 2015 and 2017, before my mental health became too bad to continue. At the time my degenerative neurological condition was progressing. A trusted friend in the disability community visited me a few weeks later and found that I’d been living off savings because I couldn’t face going back to Work and Income.
Woman forced to pay double rent in move to public housing rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Community Scoop » NGOs Say Time For The Government To "Step Up" As Social Security Tweaks Kick In scoop.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scoop.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
At 78, Dot Hutton is reliant on temporary support to pay her rent.
In March 2018, home-ownership was at its lowest in almost 70 years. Since then the median price has almost doubled and rent is up by a quarter. Stuff’s
Off the Ladder series talks to those priced out of the market. Dot Hutton is 78 years old and depends on temporary support payments to supplement her pension and make rent. Even with the Temporary Additional Support (TAS) benefit – which Hutton said she must reapply for every three months – it’s a struggle to make ends meet. She said she could not remember the last time she bought fresh meat because it’s too expensive and buys frozen fish cakes if she wants protein.