A Dunedin mother with seven children says the $790 million Budget package announced yesterday designed to lift children from poverty was ''better than nothing'' but believes more is needed for struggling families.
Julie Larkins, of Wakari, cut back her work as an early childhood education teacher after becoming terminally ill, and the family lives on her husband's $780 a week before tax.
The couple have five children of their own and two foster children, who they will care for until the age of 18.
She doubted she would benefit from the Budget package, because her husband's $19-an-hour job usually had the family earning too much to qualify and the foster children were not considered dependants.
The ''good'' aspects of the package included giving families on benefits with children a $25-a-week boost to their incomes, low-income working families getting at least $12.50 a week extra, and low-income families being eligible for $5 per hour for preschool and out-of-school care.
The decision to make sole parents on benefits return to part-time work two years earlier, when their child turned 3, was a ''bad'' decision.
''They're giving families a carrot, saying here's a bit more money, but now we are going to make you go to work when your child turns 3, or we are going to pay you more child care hours so you can go to work and we don't have to pay the benefit.''
Some parents wanted to return to work earlier than others, but the age reduction removed the chance for parents to choose.
''I think children need their parents and some parents want to be there for their children, they want to have the option of raising them until they are at school.''
However, some children benefited from daycare because food and attention was more readily available at daycare than some homes, she said.
The divide between the rich and poor was getting bigger and in Dunedin and some families struggled to feed their children.
She hoped the extra money families were given would be spent on healthy food rather than luxury items.
