hard

Taiwan-born Eva Chen, a mother of four, says she is finding it “incredibly hard” to provide for her children as costs in New Zealand continue to rise.

Chen, 42, says over the last couple of years, they have been forced to cut back on eating out and holidays, and even essentials such as petrol.

A new survey has found that parents from ethnic minority communities are having it tougher and feeling the burden of financial, societal and household pressures more than their Pakeha counterparts.

More than 1200 Kiwi parents were quizzed in the fourth annual State of the Nation Parenting Survey commissioned by health insurer NIB looking at how the rising cost of living impacted parenting here.

The survey found respondents reported an overwhelming increase in societal and household pressures around rising prices, compared to results over the previous three years.

Significantly more Asian (73 per cent), Maori (72 per cent) and Pasifika parents (72 per cent) say the rising cost affected their ability to raise children, compared to 62 per cent of Pakeha.

More than one in five Asian parents (22 per cent) and Pacific Islanders (21 per cent) also said they were going without essentials, such as by skipping meals and petrol, compared with 10 per cent Pakeha and 13 per cent Maori.