The economic slowdown is starting to hit home in Dunedin as the city's least-resilient families increasingly turn to the city's social agencies for help.
And the same agencies say they are busy planning how to deal with more behaviour like problem gambling and domestic violence, which they expect to increase as the recession deepens and job market tightens.
Presbyterian Support figures show this September twice as many people dropped into Dunedin offices seeking help as did in September last year.
That month, it also handed out 30% more food parcels compared with the same month last year and twice as many people sought budget advice.
Spokeswoman Lisa Wells said the figures were indicative of harder financial times and showed how families were struggling to meet the increased cost of basics, such as food, petrol and electricity.
Food banks, in particular, had been under enormous pressure since about July this year, which was a sign families were at the limit of coping.
Combined with a tightening job market, Christmas this year was looking like it would be even harsher than usual.
Dunedin Methodist Mission general manager Laura Black said all Dunedin social agencies were starting to see the recession bite those least able to deal with it.
"The problem with a recession is it is the least resilient who cop it first and the hardest."
Already, they were aware of a lot more anxiety among clients, Ms Black said.
The stress was not yet revealing itself in any significant increase in bad behaviour, but agencies felt it was inevitable and were preparing to deal with more problem gambling, domestic abuse, bankruptcies and people having difficulty paying rent and mortgages.
"We are certainly starting to see the tip of it."
Agencies were starting to hear stories of the job market tightening.
Redundancies were not so much the issue,but there were no new jobs, making it harder to find work and wages were not increasing, she said.
A recession, loss of a job, large bills that a couple had to struggle to pay - none of that meant a person would become abusive, said Dunedin Women's Refuge (Te Whare Pounamu) community worker Amanda Durham.
But if the tendency was there, the stress of financial pressure increased the chance that someone who was abusive would be set off, she said.
The refuge had not so farrecorded any significant increase in domestic violence it would attribute to financial pressures as a result of nationwide economic concerns, although the refuge was as busy as ever, she said.
