No holiday from homelessness - women and their children unhoused in Aotearoa

This summer, we’re highlighting the urgent reality that for many women and their children - there is no holiday from homelessness in Aotearoa.

Single mothers, particularly Māori and Pacific women, face systemic discrimination, financial hardship, and barriers to safe housing, leaving many and their children without a home. The removal of children, unsafe emergency housing, and the intersecting impacts of poverty, mental health challenges, and domestic violence all deepen the crisis.

Our research shows that: 

• single mothers are disproportionately affected by homelessness, often more so than men.

• severely housing deprived women are more likely to have children – often four or more – than men or other women.

• many severely housing deprived women are sole parents, receiving government support, including sole parent benefits (17% in 2018 vs 2% of men; similar rates in 2023).

Me aro koe ki te hā o Hine-ahu-one
Pay heed to the power and dignity of women

There is no holiday from homelessness in Aotearoa.

Read our research here.