Pacific people are disproportionately impacted by the housing crisis, but there’s also heartening signs of improvement in employment, youth suicide, and crime statistics, a new report shows.
The Salvation Army’s State of the Pacific Peoples report highlights a decline in unemployment and crime rates within Pacific communities while exposing ongoing challenges in child poverty, education, and family violence.
Social policy analyst Ana Ika, who authored the report, said at the heart of these issues lies the deepening housing crisis, which disproportionately affects Pacific families.
“This report is ultimately an offering to our communities to put into their kete of knowledge and see how we move forward together,” Ika said.
The report examines five key areas: Children and youth; work and income; housing; crime and punishment; and social hazards.
Ika said Pacific communities have made impressive strides in some areas over the past decade.
The youth suicide rate has dropped by more than half and Pacific employment has nearly doubled over the past decade, while youth offending decreased by two-thirds.
“Despite these gains, challenges like child poverty, housing instability, and educational disparities continue to impact the well-being of Pacific families. When one of these critical needs is unmet, it triggers a ripple effect, slowing progress in other areas.”
Since 2019, more than 5000 children have moved out of material hardship, yet the number of Pacific children in hardship has risen by nearly the same amount.
With rising child poverty targets, an estimated 23,000 children could be left behind, many of whom are likely to be Pacific. School attendance has dropped sharply, with only 20% of Pacific students achieving University Entrance.
Ika said there are a range of ways Pacific families could be better supported.
“There’s a whole myriad of factors,” she said.
“The underlying issue that underpins a lot of the issues that we see come through our front doors is around housing, housing instability, housing inefficiencies, and the financial hardships that many of our families face.”
In areas with significant Pacific populations, such as Cannons Creek North (Wellington), rents have risen by 110% over the past decade, while Favona North (Auckland) has increased by 71%, making private rentals unaffordable for many.
“The reality is you have to pay your rent, you have to pay your power bill, but you don’t have to give money to the supermarket. The supermarket doesn’t care. That means food is often the first thing that goes,” Ika said.
It’s all interlinked as inadequate and unaffordable housing leads to financial hardship and frequent relocations, resulting in transient children, she said.
Although average earnings for Pacific people have risen, they are still almost $10,000 below the national average, and Pacific households have the lowest disposable income of any ethnic group.
Hazardous drinking and drug use have risen over the past decade, with Pacific communities increasingly impacted by gambling harm.
“With targeted investment in key areas like housing, education, gambling, workforce development, as well as alcohol and harm minimisation, we can make lasting improvements for Pacific communities across Aotearoa.”
Ika highlighted the importance of providing context for financial data, especially regarding cultural obligations like “fa’alavelaves” (family contributions), to help those unfamiliar with Pacific practices avoid misunderstandings.
The State of Pacific Peoples report is designed to inspire solutions rather than reinforce negative stereotypes.
“Pacific communities are an integral part of Aotearoa, and our collective future depends on addressing these challenges together.”
Ika said writing the report was challenging as her other work, such as the Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report, addressed the entire country, whereas this publication focused solely on issues relevant to Pacific families, including her own.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
