Table of Contents

Introduction. 2

Background to the problem.. 2

Problem statement 3

Rationale for the study. 3

Objective of the study. 3

Research questions and sub research questions. 3

Contribution of the research. 4

Literature review.. 4

Methodology. 4

Interpretation & communication of Results. 5

Budget, Limitations & Future Work. 5

References. 6

Introduction of the Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

 Background to the problem of Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

The number of homeless people in New Zealand has been a problem since the year 1903 when the reports were shown by the Chief district health officer stating that the city is facing problems since there are insanitary houses. Even though housing loans were introduced for workers the great depression increased the number of people who were unable to afford houses. It disturbed the overall economy. A survey conducted in 1936 showed that nearly one third of the houses were not of satisfactory quality. In 1950 the national government made an attempt to reduce the waiting lists for owning houses however, overcrowding was still an issue. In 1991 housing rents were introduced for state houses, along with a government’s supplement. A report by National Housing Commission still showed that at minimum 20,000 households were still facing the issue of buying houses. In the elections that took place in 1999 the rents that were related to incomes were introduced once again.

In the more recent times the media has greatly highlighted the issue of scarce homes in New Zealand. The issue was discussed in committees as well. There were a total of 3188 applications for houses that were still in waiting in 30-June-2014. This means that this problem is not a new one for New Zealand but it is yet to be solved. ("Homelessness in New Zealand - New Zealand Parliament", 2019)

Problem statement of Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

We can see that the government has been taking account of the problem of homeless people since quite a time now yet the improvements are not much to be seen. This makes us question whether the deep rooted problem of homeless people has been identified and then attempts are being made to solve them. As it can be seen that the number of homeless people has not decreased rather it has increased with time. Moreover, it also has to be seen there might other barriers present that are not letting the homeless people to improve their lives.

Rationale for the study of Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

Previous researches have too focused on the fact that it is beneficial to study about homeless people but it will be useless if later no efforts are being made to use the data collected in coming up policies that help them

Significance of the study: This study is important because once we get the results we will be able to understand the accurate information of the people who are facing this problem. We will understand what conditions they live in and so will be better able to improve their condition. The aim is to make sure that the policies are well targeted and so the chances of this problem being solved are increased. Secondly, as we will be able to generate results that whether homeless people pose some sort of threat or harm the overall economy in any way the seriousness of this issue will be increased. Policymakers will be more concerned solving this problem as they would then know that this one issue leads to numerous others.

Objective of the study on Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

The main objective of this study is to conduct a research on the people who are homeless and understand their situation. Moreover, this study aims to analyze the policies that the government came up with till date in order to understand why or why have not they have been effective. This means indirectly looking at the factors that have made people homeless. These factors can include discrimination from landlords, poverty or unemployment.

Research questions and sub research questions on Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

The two main research questions are below.

Research question 1: What is the situation of homeless people?

Research question 2: Have the policies of the government been successful?

Sub questions:

Q1: Are there any physical or emotional threat to these people?

Q2: Do these homeless people affect other people in the country in any way?

Q4: Are there any barriers to these homeless people in getting home?

Q3: Do people think that the present policies of the government can solve this issue?

The sub questions are derived from the main questions in order to gain a better insight into the problem. The first three questions talk about the behavior of homeless people in general and their role in the society whereas, the last one focuses on whether the government has played a correct role in an attempt to overcome this issue.

Contribution of the research in Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

This research further attempt to support the ones previously carried out but by now deeply analyzing the issue from a different perspective. We aim to see the condition of the homeless people and understand their situation as well as only this will enable us to reduce the number of homeless people.

Literature review of Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

There have a number of researches conducted on the issue of homeless people in New Zealand. As most studies have also proved that this issue has been further rising that has cause tensions among people. (Kearns, 1995; Peace & Kell, 2001; O’Brien & de Hann, 2002). A research conducted by (Lewis, Andersen, & Gelberg, 2003; Quine, Kendig, Russel, & Touchard, 2004), showed that mostly homeless people were male that belonged from  (Morrell-Bellai, Goering, & Boydell, 2000; Toohey, Shinn, & Weitzman, 2004). However, this makes us question the rationality of people and the mindset of people in general as it shows that they might not be far sighted or do not have enough information to make right decisions in life.

Majority papers previously written made an attempt to understand the mental health of such homeless people. (Cattell, 2001; McIntosh, 2005)). Furthermore, research was done to figure out the intensity of these thoughts that could lead to extreme measure being taken by individuals like suicide. A research done by Shaw, Dorling and Smith in 1999 proved that in the case of homeless people there are around 34 times more chances that they will commit suicide. However, there has not been much work done on this as the deep rooted reasons that make them feel this low about them has not been analyzed. According to Toro,2007 homeless people are more likely to get addicted to alcohol and other drugs to ease their tensions. These tensions include the pressure that they face the abuse and much more. This also leads to an increase in criminal activities.  Moreover, it has been found that these homeless people are usually arrested as well due to such criminal behaviors. They adopt a homeless lifestyle that leads to a legal action being taken like being drunk in public.

A paper by David C thorns,2017 talks about how people being homeless is not only a result of individual failure but there is some contribution of the government’s policies as well. This paper focused on showing how there is misallocation of housing and failure to achieve the right level of the production and consumption of houses. Further research can be done to see what level of information people have while they are making important decisions in life and how they can be well informed. Moreover, the system through which resources are allocated can be rechecked to determine why there is a mismatch between the demand and supply of houses.

Methodology on the Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

In order to find why the homeless people are increased in New Zealand and what threat they are facing than it is important to collect the data through which results can be generated. The result will show the threats to homeless people and why their number is increasing in the country. As this study is qualitative it will explore the cause of increase in homeless people and the problem they are facing. This study will follow descriptive research approach for gathering the information. Through this the problems if the homeless people can be efficiently determined. The data will be gathered from various homeless citizens as well other individuals who live in the same society.

The sample size of 150 have been taken using the simple random sampling technique. The data will be collecting by conducting interview and survey. The interview will be Simi structured and contain questions through which problems of the homeless people can be understood. The questionnaire will be developed for survey which will contain different types of questions. After gathering the information the data will be analyzed using different data analysis technique such as standard deviation & graphic illustrations. The data collection phase is the most important phase of the study because the result of the study rely on the collection of data.

Interpretation & communication of Results of Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

The results have shown that the homeless people may face unfortunate life events that are unpredictable and they were not mentally prepared to face them yet. These traumatic events can be for instance, death of a loved one, job loss or relationship breakdown. The findings of the study has shown that that the homeless people are more prone to diseases hence have a lower life expectancy. It’s quite clear that their quality of life is not good and they are more prone to life threatening diseases. In short it can be said that the homeless people face many physical and emotional threats in the society.

The findings of the study shows that the situation of the homeless people is not satisfactory and government should have to take necessary actions for improving the standard of living of these people. Not only the mental and physical health of these people are not good but also these people are unable to contribute efficiently for the benefit of society. The findings have shown that they usually are addicted to more negative thoughts. These include feelings of insecurity and loneliness with low self-esteem. The study have shown the fact that the culture does not play a positive role in the lives of homeless people rather they are looked down upon. The study have shown that there have been cases where some people return to their homeless state even after being re settled. The reasons for this type of behavior is yet to be explored however, it can be said that it is difficult to settle back and rebuilding ties with friends and families.

Budget, Limitations & Future Work of Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

This study has some key limitations. The first limitation is that the study does not provide much information regarding how the number of homeless people can be reduced. The study is not focusing on the rehabilitation of such people. However the limitations of the study won’t effect the credibility and reliability of the research. The future researchers can also utilize this study for further investigating the problems of homeless people. Mostly researches focused on New Zealand as a whole this paper will look at Auckland in more detail.  Furthermore, there are fewer researches that have focused on the reasons that stop the homeless people to get a better life. There can be a number of reasons ranging from being unaccepted in the culture to loosing self confidence in them

References of Homeless People in Auckland, New Zealand have increased

 Homelessness in New Zealand - New Zealand Parliament. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.parliament.nz/mi/pb/research-papers/document/00PLEcoRP14021/homelessness-in-new-zealand/

David C. Thorns (1989) The production of homelessness: From individual failure to system inadequacies, Housing Studies, 4:4, 253-266, DOI: 10.1080/02673038908720665

Shiloh Groot & Kerry Chamberlain (2008). Homeless lives in New Zealand: The case of central Auckland.

Toro, P. A. (2007). Toward an international understanding of homelessness. Journal of Social Issues, 63 (3), 461- 677.

Cattell, V. (2001). Poor people, poor places, and poor health: the mediating role of social networks and social capital. Social Science & Medicine, 52, 1501-1516

McIntosh, T. (2005). Maori identities: Fixed, fluid, forced. In J. Lui., T. McCreanor, T. McIntosh and T. Teaiwa (Eds.), New Zealand Identities: Departures and Distinctions (pp.38-51). Wellington: Victoria University Press

Kearns, R., A. (1995). Worried sick about housing: Extending the debate on housing and health. Community Mental Health in New Zealand, 9, 5-11.

Peace, R., & Kell, S. (2001). Mental health and housing research: Housing needs and sustainable independent living. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 17, 101-123.

Lewis, J., Andersen., R., & Gelberg, L. (2003). Health care for homeless women. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18, 921-928.

Morrell-Bellai, T., Goering, P., & Boydell, K. (2000). Becoming and remaining homeless: A qualitative investigation. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 21, 581-604.

Toohey, S., Shinn, B., & Weitzman, B. (2004). Social networks and homelessness among women heads of household. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 7-20.

Quine, S., Kendig, H., Russel, C., & Touchard, D. (2004). Health Promotion for socially disadvantaged groups: the case of homeless older men in Australia. Health Promotion International, 19, 157-165.

O’Brien, M., & de Hann, I. (2002). Empowerment research with a vulnerable group – homelessness and the social services: The story of a research project. Social Work Review, Autumn, 29-34.

Bang, B. (1998). Homeless in Hamilton: A Report for CHARG and Waikato Anglican Social Services. Hamilton City Council.