Life is hard for many people, not just beneficiaries, and Dunedin is no longer a place where anyone can live cheaply, was among reactions to our "Living On the Edge" series.
A single woman working in the education sector, who said her take-home pay was not much less than the $690 in various benefits received by the solo mother in Monday's front page article, also struggled to make ends meet.
Single people did not have access to extra help.
"I have all of that solo mother's costs when it comes to housing, electricity and transport, but I don't have any extra benefits".
Several other callers were critical of the amount of money being received by the beneficiary because they were working and managing to survive on less.
Among the reasons for the level of assistance being received by Vanessa Biddle and her three children who featured in the article was their private rent of $275.
Yesterday, she said there was a possibility she would be able to rent a Housing New Zealand property soon for a much lower rate.
If someone in Ms Biddle's situation received $690 net a week by working, she would qualify for extra help through the Working for Families initiative.
Calculations through the Inland Revenue Department website show someone with three children under 13 who was working 20 to 40 hours a week, and earning $690 after tax, would qualify for an extra $209 a week in Working for Families Tax Credit payments.
Almost all working families with children and earning under $70,000 a year can get assistance through the Working for Families initiative.
Many families with children and earning between $70,000 and $100,000 also receive help, as do some larger families earning more than this.
Since her interview with the Otago Daily Times, Ms Biddle said she was receiving more budget advice, arrangements had been made to pay the arrears on her electricity account and she was to continue with cooking classes.
She hoped to begin job hunting soon with the help of Work and Income.
Ms Biddle said she understood some people were critical of her and she acknowledged she had made "quite a few mistakes" in her past, but she wanted her children to steer clear of a criminal lifestyle.
