It's like jumping out of a plane without a parachute.
I survived by stopping trying to cope.
Your basic responsibility as a parent is to provide for your children and you can't do
that.
The stories I hear are not consistent with people being treated with dignity; as if they
have rights.
As if we are a compassionate society that genuinely cares what happens to each other.
There is one thing that I would like to say that I don't think gets said nearly enough.
And that is to the women who are surviving and keeping their kids going on the DPB: you
guys are heroes; you are doing the impossible.
And kia kaha.
It's not just your family that judges you, or your friends, it's people that you don't know
who are then making decisions about your life and whether or not it's valid in a way.
I mean I...I didn't choose to get pregnant, I was a student, I was studying, I had a ten
year plan for what I was going to do with my life.
You don't even get 400 a week, which some people will be like you know, 'that's a lot!',
but it's not when you take rent out and gas out and food out and everything she needs
and you put a little bit aside for when your car warrant is due.
I can't be too close to my male friends because, in case someone turns around and says 'oh,
but she's in a relationship,' and WINZ are like 'if you're in a relationship we need
to know about it.
So we can take their income into account,' and you live in this state of, just, anxiety.
With my oldest child, because I get Child Disability Allowance, I wasn't aware until
five years after him receiving the Child Disability Allowance, as part of that, you're automatically
entitled to 50 hours childcare assistance, that's in the holidays, and 20 hours for term
time, for after school and before school care.
I wasn't aware of that until I, went up to the counter one day trying to sort the same
thing out again that I had about two or three times a year, and they said to me, 'because
you're receiving Child Disability Allowance you're entitled to this' and I'm like 'well
why hasn't anybody told me?'
It would have made such a difference if I'd known that, because I wouldn't have had to
stress about childcare or, you know, childcare is expensive for anybody, whether you're on
a benefit or working part time or full time.
Having just that little bit of extra help, which may be an extra 10 dollars 20 dollars
a week in my situation is a huge difference.
You're just sort of in this trap where you just can not get ahead, you just sort of feel
like you're in a black hole and you've got to wait and wait until your children get older
and you can work more and the day to day living is just a real struggle.
I mean I didn't feel good receiving a benefit, it made me feel bad about myself, there was
a stigma around it, people just look at you essentially like you're beneath them, that
you're sort of sub-human or something.
That sort of social attitude is really prevalent and I think that's as much of a problem as
the WINZ culture or the political...policies.