May 15, 2018
Crowded housing contributing to poor health, education
One in five Maori live in a crowded house, according to the latest analysis by Statistics New Zealand.
Overall, around 1 in 10 New Zealanders lived in crowded houses in 2013, a rate largely unchanged since the early 2000s.
Crowding was highest for people with Pacific ethnicity at 39.8 percent, with the rate highest for r people with Tuvaluan or Tongan ethnicity.
Senior analyst Rosemary Goodyear says severe crowding is linked with poorer health, higher rates of infectious diseases, and poorer educational outcomes for children.
The Living in a crowded house study considered well being for the first time by linking data from the 2013 Census and the 2016/17 General Social Survey.
Dr Goodyear says people living in crowded households are less satisfied with life, and more likely to be short of cash for everyday needs or a visit to the doctor.
About half of all crowded homes were in Auckland, with highest rates in south Auckland.
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