More than half the 41,000 homeless people in New Zealand are under the age of 25. The figure is from the 2013 census and is an estimate only. A count of rough sleepers in Auckland found 46 per cent of 1300 people in temporary accommodation are under 18. The lack of adequate youth housing infrastructure is of concern to Manaaki Rangatahi ke Tamaki Youth Homelessness Collective, which is a group of agencies working to tackle the issue. The Collective is petitioning the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, Jacinda Ardern, for resources to provide immediate accommodation, a national and regional strategy for dealing with homeless youth and funding for a research project that would provide - once and for all - an idea of the size and scope of the problem. Lynn Freeman talks to Aaron Hendry, who is the Youth Housing Team Leader for Lifewise, one of the agencies that makes up the Collective, and Corey, a young man Lifewise has helped who slept rough in central Auckland for two years.
Photo: RNZ / Luke McPake
