The headline reads, "Baby gets sick in crowded house".
It is now an established trend for young people to stay longer in the family home. It's happening in our family and I am fine with it. It makes sense due to various circumstances.
But if the young person then adds a partner, followed by children, it is inevitable that overcrowding is going to happen.
What I would like the media to decide is which is worse? Poverty - higher when housing costs consume a greater part of income - or overcrowding, which allows people to pool their resources.
Overcrowding actually alleviates poverty. So then the story has to be about how overcrowding makes people sick.
I have a suspicion that state houses are the cause of the problem - not the solution. Because they are cheap compared to private rentals families tend to congregate in them as well as on the grounds.
It may be that the son can't find a rental in Tauranga or that, compared to living with his mother in a cheap state house, he can't find anything 'affordable'.
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