The Cost of Living With Stroke

Across New Zealand, people are trying to manage higher prices, tighter budgets, and the pressure of meeting basic everyday needs. Now imagine that, overnight, you also lost your income, could no longer drive, needed help to shower or cook, and had to pay for the rehabilitation that could help you rebuild your life.

For around 9,000 New Zealanders affected by stroke each year, this is what the cost of living crisis can look and feel like. It is not only the supermarket bill, the power bill, or the petrol pump. It is the sudden cost of surviving, recovering, and trying to stay independent when life has changed in an instant, often with little practical or financial support to absorb the shock.

With better prevention, faster treatment, and fairer access to rehabilitation, New Zealand can reduce this billion-dollar burden.

Stroke changes lives overnight. It is one of the leading causes of disability in New Zealand and the second leading cause of death. For those who survive those first critical weeks, the impacts can be life-long, affecting mobility, communication, cognition, mental wellbeing, income, and independence.

For Justus, now in his early 20s, it is the loss of independence. For Sarah, it meant becoming her husband’s carer while also caring for their infant son and financially supporting their household. This is the real cost of living with stroke.

But that is not all. Stroke recovery is long and expensive. Ongoing costs can include rehabilitation, community support, employment assistance, carer support, and sometimes long-term residential care. Almost all these costs are not covered by the health and disability system. After her stroke at age 39, Megan had to fund her own rehabilitation sessions. To keep paying the bills, she was forced to return to work before she was physically and mentally ready. If Megan’s injury had been caused by an accident, ACC support may have covered lost income and helped fund the rehabilitation she needed. Because her disability followed a stroke, she had to carry much of that cost herself.

Thirty percent of strokes occur in people under 65, and many survivors cannot easily return to work. Phil had a stroke in his 40s. More than a year later, he was still unable to return to full-time work, affecting his income, his ability to participate in society, and his need for ongoing financial support.

Stroke has a lasting impact. The physical, emotional, and financial costs begin immediately, but they do not end at hospital discharge. When prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation are insufficient, costs shift into family budgets, workplaces, communities, and other parts of society. Stroke already costs the New Zealand economy $1.1 billion every year through hospital care, lost income, unpaid care, community support, welfare, and long-term disability. Investing earlier in prevention, timely treatment, specialist care, and rehabilitation would reduce avoidable disability and lower the cost New Zealanders pay later.

Help make the cost of living with stroke impossible to ignore. Share this campaign with your networks so everyone knows we must invest in stroke prevention, faster treatment, and fair access to rehabilitation.

Other ways to take action

• Support the case for more neurologists so stroke can be diagnosed and treated faster.
• Share the State of Caring report (coming soon) to show how much unpaid care is being carried by whānau.
• Sign up to our newsletter for practical stroke prevention advice, survivor support, and campaign updates.

Stroke should not push people into poverty, dependence, or years of avoidable hardship.