Adelaide’s middle class is now battling “hidden poverty” as they access Foodbank and charities support for the first time in their lives.
Interest rate hikes are biting hitting hard as some families now pay $700 more a month in mortgage.
The problems are exacerbated by declining wages, fall in investment in infrastructure and a 40-year brain drain.
Food charity KickStart for Kids has seen a major increase in demand for its services. Founder Ian Steel said many new schools want to access his breakfast and lunch service.
“I’m getting emails from headmasters and principals in schools in the more affluent areas, saying we’ve got kids — kids that would never need to access your breakfast or lunch program [before] — really, really needing it now,” Mr Steel said. The service provides meals to 13,000 schoolchildren daily.
“In the more affluent areas, we’re seeing hidden poverty, where due to interest rate rises, petrol and food going up, the kids are getting left by the wayside,” Mr Steel said.
“Disadvantaged kids are doing it even tougher. We are seeing some terrible poverty out there.”
The chief executive of Foodbank in SA, Greg Pattinson, said his organisation’s nine food hubs in South Australia had never been busier.
“We’re seeing record numbers of people coming to our food hubs. In South Australia, there are 78,000 children who are living in severely food-insecure households.”