Budget Abandons Homeless youth for Tax Cuts

Government cuts funding to house homeless rangatahi...

Photo by Ev on Unsplash

When I think about The Budget, I think about what it tells us about who and what we value in society.

It’s easy to switch off and become overwhelmed by the noise of it all, but in real terms the Budget has an impact on our lives. And especially on the lives of those who are the most vulnerable and at-risk of harm in our society.

And who could be more vulnerable than our young people, than kids, than those who do not have safe home to go to?

As I reviewed the Budget one of points that caught my attention was the loss of about 20million dollars’ worth of funding for Youth Specific Transitional Housing. This is funding which goes directly to building housing services for young people who experience homelessness. These services are critical as they provide housing for some of our most structurally marginalized and vulnerable young people in Aotearoa.

Existing services are overwhelmed by need, and even the 20million allocated by the last Government was not going to be enough to truly address the issue. I alongside many of my colleagues in the sector and leaders within Manaaki Rangatahi (a collective of organizations working together to end youth homelessness) fought hard to have Youth Homelessness recognized in the last budget.

This 20 million, though small in comparison to the need, would have meant safety, security, and a home for more young people in desperate need right now.

So, it is disappointing to see that the Government has chosen not to prioritize the needs of our children. And we need to be clear, this is a choice.

Youth Homelessness is a critical and growing issue, and one that the community has been calling for urgent support to work with the Government to solve. One of the key barriers to responding to Youth Homelessness currently is that there is a lack of support being provided to communities who are willing to innovate and respond to the issue. Practically, what this means is that instead of scaling up, and addressing the challenge head on, more young people will continue to experience homelessness.

That means our kids, continuing to live on the streets, in motels, in abandoned buildings, in cold cars parked at the back of a park, in unsafe and dangerous living environments. It means trauma, it means harms, it means increased risk of suicide, it means we are choosing not to respond.

This choice also places the Government out of step with its own commitment’s to getting serious about responding to Youth Mental Health and preventing and addressing Youth Crime.

Homelessness is a key driving factor for why some young people enter the justice system. Homelessness also impacts young people’s mental health, increasing the risk of suicide, depression and anxiety.

This Government should, and could, have chosen to build on the last Government's acknowledgement of Youth Homelessness and pour significant investment into responding to this incredibly important issue.

We are choosing not to, and fundamentally, it would appear that choice is being guided by commitments made to prioritize tax cuts that benefit landlords and the wealthy, over the urgent health and safety of our kids.

A country isn't a business. We are a community. And while one of our children is going without safety, without a home, without the care and love they deserve, then there can be no expense worth paying in order to keep them safe.

We have to do better.

#EndYouthHomelessness

A.J. Hendry is a Youth Development Worker and rangatahi advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads Kick Back, a service supporting rangatahi experiencing homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa. He is also the curator and creator of When Lambs Are Silent.