Little oversight of the impacts of unstable housing on school attendance

Ministry of Education reports no new processes to collect data on housing instability and homelessness

Research by the Education Review Office (ERO) found that students living in lower socio-economic areas, experiencing unstable housing and complex family lives are more likely to be chronically absent from school.  Students living in social housing were 1.4 times more likely to be chronically absent and those living in emergency housing were 1.5 times more likely to be chronically absent (ERO, 2024). 

The experience of being chronically absent from school also increases the likelihood that young people will utilise emergency and social housing when they are older. From age 17 to 26, young adults who were chronically absent were more likely to be in social and emergency housing (ERO, 2024).  

Early intervention to ensure stable housing for children and young people is likely to have long term benefits for whānau. ERO recommends stabilising housing for the families of students at risk of chronic absence, including prioritising school attendance as part of social housing criteria (2024). 

Recent research by the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness and Taylor Fry (2026) found that young people experiencing severe housing deprivation are more likely to disengage with the education system and 2.3 times higher rates of suspension (1.7% vs. 0.74%).  

For children aged under 5 years, those experiencing homelessness were 1.6 times more likely to never have been enrolled at an ECE (Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness and Taylor Fry, 2026). 

Strengthening data collection in this area will support a better understanding of the barriers to educational attainment and help inform more effective responses across systems. 

Data source: OIA Ministry of Education decline