Abstract:
Decreasing rates of home ownership and increasing rates of both rental housing and residential mobility are intensifying the impact of poor quality housing, especially for the most vulnerable children and whānau. The current study used data from the contemporary Growing Up in New Zealand study to better understand the housing experiences of New Zealand children, particularly those in rental accommodation and for those living in low incomes households in the first five years of life. We have used both longitudinal data and sequence state cluster analyses to better understand the pathways and flux in tenure and income states families experience across time. Greater understanding of families with young children’s journeys has the potential to be translated into policy, service and programme development in order to achieve better housing pathways and wellbeing outcomes for New Zealand families.