Somewhere along the way, vital home skills such as cooking, clothing repairs, and good housekeeping skipped a few generations.
Luckily, SuperGrans is there to fill the gap.
The nationwide service, funded by the Ministry of Social Development, provides one-on-one, in-home mentoring in basic life skills.
Dunedin manager Marie Sutherland said it was "about encouraging independence" and getting people to "a better place".
The city's 23 volunteers, 21 grans and two grandads, worked with about 100 clients a year, many of whom were single mothers living on a benefit.
SuperGran Judy Breward joined the organisation about a year ago because she "wanted to make a difference".
"I get very concerned for that portion of society that struggles and produces a second generation of inadequacy," she said.
Many of the women she helped were "very young" and needed guidance and encouragement in general "household management".
"A lot of these girls start so far behind the eight-ball, they need repeated encouragement ... they have no background in budgeting or enterprising," she said.
"These girls do at least go to various organisations for help."
She often saw a "level of drive" missing, she said.
"There is, perhaps, a strand of ... 'I can't' rather than 'this is something I've got to get on top of'." Mrs Breward sometimes felt "frustrated" by the situations her clients were in, but was happy to be there to help mentor them and develop their skills.
"These people need a lot of help and they can get a variety of help from different organisations, and what's good about SuperGrans is it fills a little niche that the other organisations don't."
One of Mrs Breward's clients, Michelle Whittaker, said she appreciated how much support the grans provided.
"They accept you for who you are and they are really nice and supportive. I've got no family here in Dunedin and so it's really nice to know there is someone there to turn to.
"We've been looking at sewing, a bit of knitting, and general conversation - someone to keep you company," Miss Whittaker said.
Her mother had taught her "the basics" of homecraft, but she was "learning the language" and improving her skills through SuperGrans.
"They are useful things to learn, especially sewing so I can fix my son's pants," she said.
"I've really enjoyed it [SuperGrans]. It's something to look forward to."
Ms Sutherland said clients were often referred to the service through other social agencies such as Anglican Family Care, Plunket and Child Youth and Family, though self-referral was becoming more common.
The organisation carried out an assessment, identifying what a client's needs were and what they wanted to learn, before matching them with an appropriate volunteer.
"It's about getting a really good match-up so we know it's going to work," she said.
The gran makes weekly visits until goals are achieved.
Sometimes a gran is with a person or family for months.
"Anywhere between two and 12 [months], it depends on the situation and what's happening," Ms Sutherland said.
One of the key problems families faced was money management.
"They need to learn how to manage their money," Ms Sutherland said.
"It's not what you want, it's what you need."
Learning to stick to a budget was important, so grans often taught people how to plan menus and cook meals on a budget.
Some of the recipes were so popular the organisation printed a cookbook, complete with food safety tips, which each client received.
Grans also could also teach gardening, knitting, sewing, preserving and literacy.
"I would not have believed there were families out there who need the amount of help they do.
"It's all things we've kind of learnt and grown up doing, and it's just hard to think there are a lot of young people out there who don't know how to do those things," Ms Sutherland said.
Other issues could simply be knowing what they are entitled to from Housing New Zealand, Work and Income and health services, so grans often went along to appointments as support people.
"A lot of it's about having the confidence and knowledge of what they can ask for," Ms Sutherland said.
"They are very humble and they don't think to ask or they are too frightened to ask.
"It's good to have someone encouraging them.
"The grans are there to help. They want to help and they get a great deal of pleasure out of helping families."
• For more information, visit www.supergran.org.nz.
SuperGrans to the rescue
SuperGrans Aotearoa:SuperGrans is a service open to all and is about passing on everyday skills needed to provide for oneself or the family
• Operates in 14 locations.
• More than 150 volunteers, 23 in Dunedin.
• More than 1800 individuals and families supported by SuperGrans each year.
Organisation helps with:
• Budgeting
• Basic cooking
• Good menu planning
• Shopping on a budget
• Housekeeping techniques
• Clothes repairs
• Gardening
• Literacy Advocacy
• Knitting
• Sewing and crafts
• Mentoring
• Preserving
