Mangere Town Centre carpark is packed with people this evening as they prepare to sleep in their cars for an event raising awareness on homelessness.

Hundreds spend night in cars in support of homeless families.

COMMENT: Heart-breaking stories of families living in cars, garages and overcrowded houses demonstrate that our welfare state is broken, writes Catriona MacLennan.

What makes people get into politics? Imagine being the Minister of Social Housing, and seeing someone who helps the homeless as the enemy.

Foketi Purcell gave her longtime friend Brenda Sekona a car, a thank you for taking her and her family in when two years earlier they had nowhere else to go.

Warriors star James Gavet has been through a lot in his 27 years, on and off the football field. Now he's using his life experiences to help those in need.

Homeless people sleeping rough pose a visible challenge to all of us. The poor who camp in public places and beg in streets make themselves very visible.

Conservative lobby group blames "family malformation" - including parental breakups - as major culprit.

COMMENT: It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why the Government isn't making election promises to those in need.

Nia Glassie and Moko Rangitoheriri were both beaten to death at the age of 3.

Derek Handley has joined Eat My Lunch as an investor and advisor.

COMMENT: The problem of families with children forced to live in third-world conditions is eminently resolvable, writes Bryan Gould.

Mild weather has brought rough sleepers from all over NZ to Auckland, with the presence of extra homeless people resulting in more complaints about beggars.

A visiting British reading advocate says reading can help fight poverty.

For five years Syria has suffered through a civil war that has tortured its people and destroyed the country, writes World Vision's Chris Clarke. For five years too long children have witnessed things no one should ever see.

The world is full of opportunities to save money - if you just have enough money to access them.

The low hanging fruit in the debate about feeding hungry children must surely be reducing the waste of good food which is thrown away, writes Sam Judd.

The Salvation Army's annual stocktake on New Zealand's social health has earned high credibility. It owes this to its recognition of progress as well as problems.

A new report has given New Zealand one of the worst rankings in the developed world.

There is no poverty in New Zealand because the poor are not living in slums. Some people in so-called poverty even have cars and ovens, writes Jenesa Jeram.

It's not necessarily surprising - or even a bad thing - that dynamic cities like Washington have higher income inequality than the national average.

It's time for the fairness of good tax systems to help us build a better world - and the meeting in Davos offers a real opportunity to put this into action, writes Rachael Le Mesurier.

Kiwi children are suffering right now. Believe it, writes Lizzie Marvelly.

What has caused today's hard-heartedness? Three decades of neo-liberal politics has changed Kiwi outlooks, writes Martin Thrupp.

The self-plagiarist tries to take undeserved credit for the work as new and original when they know the material was derived from a previous source, writes Deborah Hill Cone.

There is misery, there is depravity and there is hopelessness, yes; but no poverty, writes Jamie Whyte.

Over the years, I've been privileged to gain insights from visiting schools on our literacy programme, which is now past its 21st birthday.

COMMENT: New Year is usually a time for making lists, so here are five things Steve Braunias wants to see in 2016.