New Zealand Homelessness Definition: Why the Headline Number Misleads
The definition changes the number Asking how many homeless people live in New Zealand sounds like a straightforward question, but the answer depends on what counts as homelessness in the first place. A street sleeper, a family in emergency motel accommodation, a teenager rotating through couches, and a household packed into a one-bedroom flat do not look the same on paper. New Zealand’s official framework puts them in the same broad crisis category because the system is not measuring visibility; it is measuring deprivation. ...