Latest from Social Issues

Refugee crisis on Clooneys' doorstep

Refugees and migrants who have not eaten for a day or more bed down on blankets and scraps of cardboard in a small park near Lake Como in Italy.

Gough: Only tragedy is misjudged pity

Erin Gough responds to a column that expressed sympathy for a range of people whose worries were worse than a latte or the valuation of their house.

Manhire: Asylum seekers hit rock bottom

COMMENT: Down here at the southern end of the Earth, human rights abuses very often seem like the stuff of faraway lands.

Director gender pay gap closing: report

The pay gap between men and women directors on New Zealand boards is closing.

Study finds Winz jobs don't last

A new study says Work and Income is pushing many beneficiaries into jobs that don't last - and even told a pregnant woman to start

Do transgender athletes have an unfair advantage at the Olympics?

Although there are well over 40 openly gay and lesbian athletes competing in the Summer Games, neither of the two reported trans athletes have come out publicly.

Duff: No excuses, let's foster aspiration

COMMENT: Many cultures across the world have suffered horrible cruelties but haven't all become killers and thieves.

Cost of P smoking to rental properties

COMMENT: There's been a lot discussed about all the problems P smoking brings, but what about the real cost to the owners of these properties?

Unitary Plan 'will lock out key workers'

Community housing providers say "key workers" such as nurses and teachers will still be locked out of housing close to their work.

Is food court sushi cultural appropriation?

And why is Lena Dunham supporting a protest against "insensitive" food?

Rodney Hide: We can beat poverty of spirit

COMMENT: We have the power to change our own lives and far better to live a life of hope and ambition than one of hopelessness and despair.

Asian families face anxiety

Asian families are more vulnerable than other Kiwis despite doing reasonably well financially, a new report says.

Housing crisis drives jump in Winz loans

Desperate Aucklanders struggling to cope with the city's housing crisis have borrowed almost $20m from Work and Income for accommodation costs in the past year.

Lonely life and death of Daniel Bindner

He walked the streets and slept where he could shelter. Public spaces were his home and lots of people looked at him - but few actually saw him.

Dame Anne Salmond: Balance needed after ravages of neo-liberalism

COMMENT: If life is understood as a struggle among cost-benefit maximising individuals, the idea of a fair and harmonious society retreats.

Revealed: The secret life of graduates

Life after university can mean more wealth and health, but challenges remain.

Will home buyers' prayers be answered?

Frustrated would-be first-home buyers will get a hand up as the Government moves to lift house price limits for KiwiSaver subsidies and low-deposit loans.

'Affordable' houses still a dream

Analysis shows just 43 per cent of target-age Aucklanders could buy a $500,000 house under bank lending criteria.