Social workers are warning some children in rural areas are missing out on too many days at school because their parents cannot afford the fuel to drive them each day.

It comes as the number of people on the Jobseeker benefit continues to rise and thousands more receive hardship grants for food.

The government is also seeking advice on whether to keep the support for families affected by the fuel crisis.

As a school social worker, Eloise Jowitt saw first hand the pressure on families who could not afford fuel to drop their children at school.

She said this was a big problem for students who lived in South Auckland's rural outskirts, whose closest school was not within walking distance.

"I'll pick them up because, I mean, that's if you want a kid to come to school, sometimes that's the easiest solution," Jowitt said.

"Kids want to come to school. These kids, they're always happy. I have kids that are ready, waiting for me, excited to come to school."

She works at Manurewa Central School and said on a rainy day, there were noticably fewer pupils because many lacked raincoats or even shoes.

"It's falling upon us more than ever before to support these families in need. I'm seeing the cost of energy, the cost of fuel and the cost of food are harder than it's ever been for families to afford."

She said it was common to see whole families sleeping in one room using body heat to stay warm.

"I know for one mum, she's got a heat pump in the house, but it's never on. Her form of heating is when she uses the dryer in the evening, and that's how she's currently heating her house."

Jowitt is among Presbyterian Support Northern's team of school social workers who are linked to about 96 primary and intermediate schools in the upper North Island.

Its chief executive Shaun Greaves said referrals have increased and it was hearing this winter was harder for families struggling to pay for food, heating and fuel.

"One of the major things we're seeing is the cost of fuel and the impact it has at some of our rural schools. In some cases kids aren't able to get to school because of the cost," he said.

"That typicllally is keeping the child at home because that's the cheapest option, not that they want to keep them at home, that's what they can afford to do."

Presbyterian Support Northern is among charities with winter appeals to help those most in need.

"If we can support those children today, we can really shape their future for years to come. Any support the government can give around the cost of fuel, food, electricity, any of things to ease the burden absolutely goes a long way."

The Ministry of Social Development's latest figures show in the June quarter there were 218,500 people on the Jobseeker benefit - up nearly 2500 from the same period last year.

In that time, 86,500 people got off the benefit and into work - up nearly 6000.

And thousands more received special needs grants for food - up just over 8000.

Even so, Eloise Jowitt often accompanied parents to appointments with Work and Income and was seeing more grants being declined.

"This is their last option, and they're being told that they should be managing their budget better when I've seen week to week how they struggle," she said.

"Even as a social worker advocating for their needs, it's still hard to get those grants across the line and I'm seeing a lot more declines. It is really hard to see."

Manurewa Central School principal Mike Piper said the cost of living was the greatest barrier to regular school attendance.

"You want to see them come to school and when you get that attendance and you know that you can give them a little bit of a hand, whether it's feeding them, the odd bit of stationary every now and then, it's awesome that way," Piper said.

"We just want them at school and we do our best to make sure they get here, take away the barriers and get them here."

He said schools in the community were good at plugging gaps and spotting families that need help.