Lay summary
Work, income and wellbeing are closely related, with low income families generally experiencing poorer health outcomes. These relationships are particularly acute in the everyday lives of Māori who are more likely to be in low pay jobs and who often experience unacceptably poor health outcomes when compared to other population groups. At present there are lots of conversations about low income whanau in public discourse and efforts to help in government circles. This research considers what impacts recent efforts to help, such as the rising of minimum wages and the families packages are having on low income whanau and their neighbours. The Kaupapa Māori, action research project involves spending time with whanau and then taking the insights gained into efforts to educate policy makers about the health and wellbeing consequences of the policies and initiatives they design.