The term "homelessness" conjures up images of people sleeping on park benches and inside shop doorways in our bigger cities. It describes an aspect of our society with which many of us are uncomfortable — partly because it's not the New Zealand with which some of us are familiar, and partly because, as often happens with such issues, advocacy groups have inflated the definition of the problem to such an extent as to make some of the numbers quoted seem ridiculous.
So does New Zealand really have a problem with homelessness? The honest answer is yes — but like many of these issues, there are conflicting narratives around both the cause and the extent of the problem.
According to a study conducted by the Auckland Council the causes include unemployment, failure to reintegrate into society after being in prison, relationship breakdowns, mental illness and alcohol and substance abuse — with the relative weight of each of these differing in other studies.
And though we don't know the precise number of homeless, we do know the hardcore number of those who lack habitable accommodation is probably somewhere between 2000* and 4200** depending on what data you're looking at. We also know that there are another 37,000 people who are described as being in temporary or overcrowded housing.
This larger group aren't technically homeless, but their circumstances aren't ideal in a country which prides itself on its pragmatic approach to looking after its most vulnerable.
