THE RAPIDLY increasing cost of living is hurting families across the state, many of whom are struggling to stay afloat, especially with Christmas approaching.
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According to the latest statistics, many families are already on the breadline, with monthly household bills rising at almost twice the rate of their income and basic costs such as energy bills, food and mortgage or rent increasing by 42 per cent in the past two years.
Lieutenant Penny Williams from the Salvation Army in Bathurst said she’s not surprised by the findings because the Salvation Army is already busy with requests for help in the lead-up to Christmas.
“We’re not the only agency in town and we’re already very busy. We’ve had families asking to put their name down for toy hampers, and other people asking for help for Christmas,” she said.
She said many families are simply trying to survive, and it’s times like Christmas which can put them under duress.
“They can get themselves into a state, buy things they don’t necessarily need or can’t afford, and once they get themselves in that situation financially it’s very hard to get out,” she said.
“Things aren’t cheap. Food, school costs, utilities, they are all very expensive, and yes, we’ve already had a lot of people coming in and asking for help, either toy hampers or food, and it’s not going to ease up, it’s only going to get worse.”
Dee Taylor, welfare co-ordinator for Hope Care, said it’s a similar situation at the charity.
“We have been flat out every day,” she said.
As the only agency which takes ‘walk-ins’, Ms Taylor said Hope Care is seeing 30 families a week needing help.
“These are people who need food, help with bills, either electricity, gas or Telstra, or assistance getting prescriptions.”
She said most families were struggling keeping up with the cost of living.
“Rent in Bathurst is very expensive, even housing commission housing isn’t well subsidised.
“And the cost of living is going up.”
She said while all groups across the community were affected, she was definitely seeing more elderly people coming through the doors asking for help.
“They are getting to the point where they are getting phone calls from the electricity people, but they haven’t cleared the debt from the last bill.
“It’s really hard for them.”
Thankfully, she said there was help, with the EAPA in place which can assist eligible people in crisis.
