The State steps in (and out)
'I never feel sorry for myself. When you are on the breadline, you just get on and do it.'
Val Wilson, 58-year old state tenant, Dixon Street Flats, Wellington, 1992
Val Wilson's words, to an Evening Post reporter, reveal both resignation and dogged resilience following news that the government's introduction of full market rents would see her pay nearly 300 percent more for her tiny, one-bedroom state flat. Even after a new accommodation supplement, Val was left with precious little to live on. But if strength of character was able to help people like Val come to terms with their new situation, it was not enough, as the rent rises came into effect, to prevent hundreds of others falling below the breadline into poverty.
