One in three households food insecure

33% of New Zealand households were food insecure in the past year. For many, this is a new experience, as two-thirds of households first struggled to afford enough food this year.

 

Households are considered food insecure if they have had to compromise the quality, variety or desirability of their food, or have a reduced or disrupted food intake.

 

These findings come from Ipsos’ Hunger Monitor, a report commissioned by the New Zealand Food Network (NZFN).

 

70% of single-parent families experience food insecurity, as do about half of all renters (53%) and low-income households (49%).

 

Disproportionately high rates are also seen among Pacific peoples (64%), Māori (51%), and 18 to 24-year-olds (50%).

 

Only 54% of New Zealanders know where to access food relief. Among food-insecure households, 44% have ever used formal support, and just 23% did so in the past year, with embarrassment (49%) and uncertainty about eligibility (35%) acting as key barriers.

 

 

Rising living costs are the dominant driver of food insecurity in New Zealand. 83% of affected households cite increased expenses, and 45% point to unstable or reduced income.

 

Families are forced to compromise on essentials, including cutting back on fresh produce, protein and dairy, just to make ends meet. Two-thirds of households look for grocery discounts, one key coping behaviour.

 

Wider household behaviour mirrors these pressures. Housing costs drive similar trade-offs across health and wellbeing.

 

The Urban Advisory’s (TUA) New Zealand Housing Survey found that 91% of its over 5,000 respondents believe housing is too expensive relative to income.

 

“The sacrifices revealed in this data are not a cost-of-living story. They are an ongoing story about housing system failure,” says Dr Natalie Allen, Co-Founder and Director of TUA.

 

More than one in four New Zealanders reported delayed medical care or skipped meals to keep up with housing costs.

 

“We are now two years into this survey, and the patterns are not changing. They are hardening.”

 

The pressure is not confined to low-income households, but is being felt by renters, moderate-income families, and first-home aspirants alike.

 

Allen says these trends aren’t isolated cost-of-living concerns, but stem from wider issues that lock too many Kiwis out of stability.

 

“Renters are paying more for less,” says Allen. “That is a structural failure with nationwide implications, not a set of unfortunate individual circumstances.”

 

When paying rent or a mortgage means skipping a meal, the challenge is not just economic but deeply social.

 

TUA suggests solutions such as a Build to Rent model, shared equity and community-led housing to rebalance access and choice across the tenure spectrum.

 

“There is a large and growing segment of demand that the current market is not serving,” says Greer O’Donnell, Co-Founder and Director of TUA.

 

Similarly, ensuring consistent access to food relief and income supports could mitigate some of the hardest trade-offs that families face.

 

“Diversifying New Zealand’s housing stock is now both a social necessity and a commercial imperative.”

 

Behind every statistic is a family making impossible choices. Solving the housing and food security crises means giving more New Zealanders the chance to live well, not just get by.