Nearly a third of high school students in the upper North Island experience housing insecurity, a new survey has found.
The difficulties include living in cars and hotels, sleeping on the floor, sharing a bed and having their families split because they couldn't afford a house big enough to live in together.
"Most people would be astounded that so many young people turn up to school every day facing such serious housing problems outside of school," said Terryann Clark of the School of Nursing at the University of Auckland.
"In some cases, families are split up because their accommodation is too small. In others, young people are left couch-surfing, or, in the worst cases, sleeping in cars, marae or emergency housing, and yet they still turn up to school every day."
Researchers surveyed nearly 8000 adolescents from Auckland, Northland and Waikato as part of the long-running Youth2000 study, which started in 2000.
- Twenty-nine percent said they suffered at least one form of housing deprivation in the previous year.
- Ten percent reported "sleeping in a garage, on the floor, couch-surfing, or sharing a bed because there was nowhere else to sleep".
- Two percent had to sleep in cars, marae, hostels or emergency housing.
- Fifteen percent said their families struggled to pay the rent.
- One in 10 reported their families splitting up because "of accommodation that was too small, with larger homes too costly or unavailable".
- Seven percent said they'd had to move house twice in the previous 12 months.
One respondent, a 13-year-old Māori girl, asked for changes to the housing market "so it's not so difficult for my family to pay the rent and actually have a roof over their heads".
As well as Māori, youth with disabilities and LGBTQ were more likely to report housing issues, as were people experiencing "ethnic discrimination" and people living in low socio-economic areas.
"Youth housing deprivation affects Māori and ethnic minorities more frequently, which is likely to reflect larger issues of housing unaffordability and ethnic discrimination in renting practices," the report stated.
Those struggling with housing were also less likely to seek medical care when it was needed, the survey found, and have increased risk of "strained" family relationships and being subjected to violence.
A common desire for teenagers was wanting a bigger house so all their family could live together.
"Give money to families who have no houses and families are struggling in life with their kids," a 15-year-old respondent said.
"The apartment we live in gets very low maintenance," said one 15-year-old. "There is no heat pump, so every winter there is lots of mould and dampness. And also, the other neighbours in the apartment block have been terrible to us. If I could change one thing, I would live in a standalone house."
The surveys were done in 2019 by researchers from the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Otago and Auckland University of Technology.
To ensure everyone has "enough money to pay for safe, dry and healthy homes and other basics like food", they're calling for an increase to the disability allowance, more state housing, more rental regulation and for the Government to disincentivise "private investments in rental properties ".
"Young people deserve a fair start in life and a future they can look forward to," the report says. "This includes knowing that, as young adults, they can grow and live independently in safe and affordable housing, irrespective of their income, ethnicity, abilities or background."
