FinCap has released its annual Voices report which shows New Zealanders are struggling to pay increasing amounts of debt and are increasingly turning to financial mentors.

The second annual FinCap Voices report provides data-led insights into the financial wellbeing of whānau supported by financial mentors.

FinCap’s 2023 Voices report reveals among many other findings that:

• The cost-of-living crisis made access to food unaffordable for many whānau.
• Financial mentors supported more whānau. The numbers of whanau supported by financial mentors increased from 49,568 in 2022 to 69,807 in 2023.
• The amount of debt owed increased significantly in 2023. The median debt level presenting to a financial mentor in 2023 was $14,096 – an increase of $429 on 2022.
• Financial mentors help whānau increase their income by around $200 in the time that they work with the client.

This comes at a challenging time for financial mentoring services.

In addition to a $7 million drop in funding for the sector, dozens of financial mentoring services have just discovered that they will no longer be funded by the Ministry of Social Development.

“This report shows the essential mahi that the hundreds of financial mentors across Aotearoa do,” says FinCap Chief Executive Ruth Smithers.

The Voices report was formally launched on 17 May at the Ngā Tapuwae Community Centre, Mangere, Auckland by Ruth Smithers and Senior Policy Advisor Jake Lilley.

Read the FinCap Voices report.

Read the Appendix- FinCap Voices report.