The cost of living continues to be New Zealanders' number one concern in the lead-up to the general election, and organisations helping those who are struggling to afford the basics want parties to address rising inequality.

With less than a month until voters go to the booths on November 7, the immediate household pressures of housing, food and fuel loom large.

Presbyterian Support Northern provides support for people experiencing family violence, mental health distress and food insecurity.

Chief executive Shaun Greaves said they were seeing more working households facing hardship than three years ago.

"It is tougher for people, so we are seeing more people coming to us for appointments and finding out they're living in cars. There was one particular family that I remember talking to in the middle of winter that we found out they had three kids sharing one blanket."

He said they were seeing more children relying on funded school lunches as their main meal for the day and the stress of economic hardship on families leading to violence.

Greaves said the reasons why people were struggling can be complex and interlinked.

"My message to any incoming government is to look behind the depth of the issue. What we're seeing is that government departments aren't working together, it seems like government departments will look for the best solution for them as opposed to the people who are experiencing these issues."

For example, he said they were seeing good outcomes from a few government departments working on a joint project to reduce family violence - but there were also a few departments that chose not to consolidate their funding and be part of that.

"The key thing that we need government departments to do is talk to each other because we've seen that they don't and that would make a huge difference."

Greaves said he regularly met with MPs across the parties.

"There's no doubt in my mind that politicians from every party that we've met with, they are fully aware of the issues and in many cases we've got clients along to speak with them... to really hear from the people out there with lived experience."

Earlier this year, the Salvation Army's State of the Nation report found overall violent crime had decreased but family violence was at its highest since 2018.

It estimated 147,000 people were victims of violent crime in the 12 months to August 2025, compared to about 200,000 the previous year.

Women's Refuge chief executive Naomi Ogg said they wanted to see greater investment in prevention and early intervention, including family violence prevention education in schools.

"We are also calling for police, the Family Court and government agencies to consistently prioritise the safety of women and children, alongside stronger specialist support for those experiencing family violence."

She said the Family Court system fails to protect victims, both children and women, from further family violence.

"Often, the system charged with offering protection can exacerbate risk and harm. There is consensus amongst family violence specialists and experts across the country about what needs to change, and these changes are eminently achievable."

Ogg said there needed to be better pathways to safe and stable housing, Legal Aid and financial support, as well as stronger protections against technology-facilitated abuse.

"Our message to election candidates is simple: we need more than promises. We need clear commitments, meaningful action and measurable results to prevent family violence and keep women and children safe," she said.

"Women and children experiencing family violence need a system that puts their safety first, specialist services that are properly resourced, and practical pathways to safety and stability. We want to see political parties demonstrate how they will deliver this, not just during an election campaign, but over the long term."

The Salvation Army helps more than 150,000 people each year with budgeting advice, food and clothing support.

Policy unit director Bonnie Robinson said the cost of living will be an urgent concern for many voters.

"The things we see most pressing is around affordability of housing, people not being able to afford kai, not being able to afford to see their families, the cost of fuel making those things worse and energy poverty and also people starting to get into debt and arrears because they can't afford the basics."

The Salvation Army is among organisations and charities that opposed the move-on orders, giving police the power to order people to move elsewhere if they are being disorderly, begging or rough sleeping.

The orders come into force later this month after an increase in homelessness and anyone disobeying the order will face a fine or possible jail sentence.

"What we'd really like to see is instead of money going on enforcement programmes that we know don't work, could we have more money put into programmes that have been demonstrated to really help homeless people get off the streets into permanent housing and able to deal with any other issues they've got."

Robinson said she and others at the Salvation Army talked to political parties all the time.

"We are hoping that some of the messages that some of the messages about what it's really like out there for people who are struggling and what we know works in terms of wraparound support, supported housing, social housing, emergency housing, financial mentoring," she said.

"All those services that actually can help people. We hope those messages get through and we see policies around increasing those support services that make a difference."

Visionwest is another organisation that offers wraparound support for people who need housing, food, budgeting advice and more.

Chief executive Lisa Woolley said they were seeing more homelessness and recently worked alongside Housing First to get 22 people off the streets into permanent housing.

"For the whanau that we journey with, housing is really important. Access to housing, affordable housing. We see there's a lot of older people that are going to be needing affordable housing so how are we going to make sure we're building for our older generation?"

The latest IPSOS Issues Monitor showed parties will have to prove their ability to tackle New Zealanders' top five concerns: the cost of living, healthcare, the economy, unemployment, and housing.

The cost of living trumps concerns at 63% of those surveyed saying it is their number one concern, while unemployment at 21% has overtaken housing to become New Zealand's fourth most important issue.

Dr Lara Greaves is a political scientist at Victoria University and said it was not just low-income households feeling the pinch.

"Every bit of data we have shows that the day to day cost of people's lives, economic security, all those issues are the biggest issues coming up to this election," she said.

"The big broad cost of living umbrella definitely seems to have increased an issue. Crime isn't featuring as much for example in people's issues ranking for what they're thinking about this election. The cost of living is a huge issue."

Greaves said housing is a big part of most households' expense and if that cost was under control a lot of the cost of living concern might be resolved.

She said there is no specific data on concern about homelessness but it could be an indicator of whether people view a government as kind or harsh.

Parties have different responses to the cost of living - voters will chose whether the answer is economic growth and tax cuts or higher incomes and targeted support funded by new taxes.