Help with food and power bills. What about a payrise instead?

The government and electricity companies are launching a pilot scheme to help people with their power bills. A private company is providing lunch to 400 secondary school pupils in Lower Hutt. Meanwhile, the cost of living for beneficiaries rose 0.6 per cent in the three months to March and rose 0.4 per cent for Maori. The national average increase in the cost of living was 0.1 per cent. Is higher pay, not tobacco price hikes and hand-outs what's really needed?