The number of children that may be living in cars has gone up dramatically since the Government came to power.
Those on the ground are blaming rent prices and are pleading with the Government to do more.
The number of children listed as may be living in cars has gone from 51 at the end of 2017, to 228 in June this year.
The numbers are pulled when people apply for help from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). People are asked where they're living and if they have children.
The number of people living in tents also climbed, with 21 at the end of 2017, up to 84 this June.
The issue of people living in cars dominated the discourse when Jacinda Ardern was leader of the Opposition, prior to becoming Prime Minister.
In August 2017, Ardern said that New Zealand "should never get used to seeing homelessness in our homes and cities".
When asked this week if it was acceptable to have children living in cars, Ardern said it was "not acceptable for any family or individual to be living in a car which is why we've put so much effort into having built now over 10,000 public housing spaces, we've quadrupled the number of transitional homes, we've bought more public houses than anyone since the 1970s".
"What you're seeing in the data is we still have people who are coming to the Government to seek housing support... It's then our job to get them into permanent housing."
Ardern said in 2017 there was not an accurate picture of people living in crisis.
"At that time not everyone could receive the emergency housing special needs grant, not everyone could make it onto a public housing waitlist and not everyone was moving into permanent housing. We now have a situation where we have a much more accurate picture of the need that exists."
Lieutenant Colonel Ian Hutson of the Salvation Army said the Government needed to increase the accommodation allowance urgently.
"None of us can really understand the kind of anxiety people have to go through when they are in that situation."
He said it was crucial, adding that more affordable homes needed are "not going to be available for some time".
National's Christopher Luxon said the Government was failing kids.
"It's got to stop making excuses and start taking action," he said.
"Kind words and saying you care is not solving the problem."
On Friday, MSD spokesperson Karen Hocking told 1News that "when someone in urgent housing distress comes to us for help, including living in a car, we work with them to find somewhere to stay".
"There is no wait list for emergency housing and people who need it are regularly housed the same day they ask us for help. We understand emergency accommodation is not always an ideal solution, but it is extremely important to us that people are not left to sleep rough or in cars. We assess eligibility for public housing, help those qualify to apply for the Public Housing Register, and record where people are living when they first applied," Hocking said.
"The way we hold data is not able to capture the number of adults or children who are living in cars at any one time. The information we have measures how many people come to us for help, and the help we provide.
"Data is available about how many children were included in applications for public housing by people who said they were living in cars at the time they applied to go on the housing register. Current numbers are cumulative, representing people who have applied for the register over a number of months and years."
"It’s important to note that where children are listed on an application for public housing, this does not mean those children were in the custody of the person who applied for public housing, and if the applicant was living in a car at the time of application it does not mean the children were also living in the car at that time. For example, the person applying for housing may wish to have their children live with them if they get a public house."
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