Abstract

Have you ever felt cold at home? Shivered in your room? We knew New Zealand had a big problem with cold housing but we wanted evidence especially on youth experiences. We surveyed 14-16-year-old students in multiple schools in different climate zones around the country. Overall we found 77% felt cold in their homes during the winter at some point. This resulted in many restrictions in their lives, for example, how many rooms they use in the house.

New Zealand’s government is looking for ways to solve the problem of energy poverty. We wanted to present ideas for solutions from youth. Therefore, young people were involved at all stages of this research: from questionnaire design to research reporting.