Back to school time is approaching fast, and Auckland Action on Poverty says that's putting huge financial pressure on whānau.
Spokesperson Kathlene Paraha says many whānau seeking help from Work and Income to pay for school uniforms are turned down because of rules such as classifying people as being in full time employment even if they only work 30 hours a week.
She says when advocacy doesn't work people are taking desperate measures.
"We've got parents thinking of busing or doing raffles to pay for their child's school uniform. We helped one, she had six kids, one starting college, two starting intermediate. That alone is over $1000 for school uniforms and they haven't even received their book lists yet," Ms Paraha says.
She'd like to see the National Party leader come down and see the reality for beneficiaries, rather than complaining the Government is loosening National's punitive sanctions.
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