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Household Crowding Essay

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The implications of the Ottawa Charters' five strands in improving access to good housing and reduction in household crowding in New Zealand

Introduction
Shelter is a fundamental need for good health (WHO, 1986). Lack of access to warm, dry and affordable housing for many New Zealanders is an increasing concern (Baker, McDonald, Zhang, & Howden-Chapman, 2013). This essay focuses on household crowding (HHC) as a specific determinant of health in New Zealand, looking at the population groups most affected by overcrowding and the relationship between HHC, individual behaviour and ill health. The negative effects of crowding on health are evident. Increasing access to affordable quality housing therefore is paramount in reducing such issue. …show more content…

Household crowding is particularly explored. Generally, HHC means that a household has lesser bedrooms or less space than a defined norm for the number of people living there (Baker et al., 2012).

The Population affected
New Zealanders living in rental property are low in income, unemployed and lack educational qualifications are far more likely to be living in overcrowded households (Baker et al., 2012; Ministry of Health, 1998). Higher proportions of individuals on low incomes live in older housing, with disproportionate number of Maori and Pacific people in low-income households in regions with poorer quality housing (Robson & Harris, 2007). Many New Zealand families share accommodation with other families to cut down on costs as they cannot meet the expense of sufficient housing, which leads to overcrowding. Additionally, families who spend most of their income on accommodation costs tend to have little money left to spend on basic healthy food. This affects health even further (Jamieson, 1998).

Recent statistics indicates that 10.4% of New Zealand households are overcrowded and 3.5% are severely crowded. Crowding for Maori (23%) and Pacific people (43%) respectively is higher compared with other ethnic groups. See Figure (2) below (Baker et al., 2012; Statistics New Zealand, 2013). Less people are able to buy their own

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