In the year ending June 2020, 58,500 children were born across New Zealand. Stats New Zealand has reported that 13.4% of children lived in a household experiencing material hardship. This means they could not access essential items such as fresh fruit or vegetables, were putting off a visit to the doctors or were unable to pay a basic utility bill on time.
These numbers translate to an urgent need for 7,839 Bare Necessities care packs per year.
You take a significant amount of financial pressure off a new mother and help her to focus on meeting her child's needs with a positive outlook and hope. You empower her to welcome her new child into a world where she is treated with dignity and compassion.
Poverty is one of the contributing risk factors to post natal depression. Mothers living in poor housing and with little money to spend are at higher risk of developing post natal depression. Developmentally speaking, the prenatal stage to age five has been identified as particularly important. Childhood poverty adversely affects adult employment, education, income, health and cognitive outcomes.