New Zealand’s motel generation caught between life in limbo and life on the street
Nearly 10,000 New Zealanders are in emergency accommodation in motels, as the cost of living soars and public housing wait lists blow out
Kristina Reid is trying to make the best of a bad situation. The walls of the motel room she has called home for the past two years are plastered with photographs of her smiling daughters. Her bed is neatly made, and tins of budget beans and tomatoes are stacked in tidy rows in the small cavity above the mini-fridge.
More than anything, Reid wishes for stability; a rental close to family, somewhere she can plant a garden – a place her four daughters can call home.