The rising cost of living is creating a new class of poor in New Zealand - middle-class people with a crippling mortgage, says Budgeting Services.
The Consumers Price Index rose 4% in the past 12 months, pushed up by rapid rises in the price of fuel and food.
Federation of Family Budgeting Services chief executive Raewyn Fox says the type of client budget agencies are seeing is changing.
She says clients now include middle-class people who have taken on a reasonably high mortgage, which is now crippling them.
