About this research
In addition to public and scholarly deliberations regarding increased inequalities in society, this project responds to the continued socio-economic exclusion of many Māori households. We draw on recent scholarship on the precariat as an emerging social class comprised of people experiencing unstable employment, unliveable incomes, inadequate state supports, marginalisation and stigma. Our focus is on the Māori precariat, whose rights are being eroded through punitive labour and welfare reforms. While we document issues of employment, food, housing and cultural insecurities shaping precarious lives, we also develop a focus on household connections, practices and strengths. This focus is important because connections, practices and strengths can buffer whānau against adversity for a time, render aspects of their lives more liveable, and enable human flourishing.
This project is comprised of three key elements designed to:
- Produce a demographic silhouette of Māori precariat households, and their composition and dispersal
- Foster collaboration and mutual learning with our community partner Waikato Women’s Refuge (Te Whakaruruhau Inc)
- Engage eight Māori precariat households using participative qualitative methods that enable the co-construction of insights into their everyday lives, insecurities and opportunities for human flourishing.
We will work with Waikato Women’s Refuge to explore how insights from this research can promote the human flourishing of whānau facing adversity by enhancing connections, practices and strengths.
The project addresses a number of interrelated questions.
- What do available statistics tell us about the composition, connections, challenges and resources of Māori precariat households?
- What does socio-economic marginalisation look like in the everyday lives of Māori precariat households?
- What are the everyday restraints on human flourishing faced by these households?
- How do households deploy cultural connections and practices to cope and push against the boundaries of their socio-economically restrained lifeworlds in ways that promote human flourishing?
- What are the practical implications of a deeper understanding of precariousness for the promotion of human flourishing by community service providers?
Whakaahua & Ataata · Images & Videos
Kairangahau · Researchers
Associate Professor Mohi Rua
Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakaue
University of Auckland
Mohi is NPM's Pou Pātai Whānau and is based at the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau. He has research and…
Associate Professor Mohi Rua
Mohi is NPM's Pou Pātai Whānau and is based at the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau. He has research and teaching interests in: Māori health and inequities; Social determinants of health; Māori culture, heritage and identity; Poverty, the precariat and homelessness; Kaupapa Māori research, theory and methodologies; Decolonial practices; indigenous psychological perspectives of the interconnected self; Sport and rangatahi (Māori youth).
Professor Darrin Hodgetts
Ngāi Tahu
Massey University
Darrin Hodgetts is a societal and community psychologist with interests in addressing issues of health, urban poverty…
Professor Darrin Hodgetts
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Since the arrival of visitors to Aotearoa, Māori have always been quick to assess and adapt language, technology and information. Contemporary society brings new languages, technology and information instantly to our fingertips. New pressures and demands can be a consequence of readily accessible knowledge. For all its advances, there are also…
View projectNgā whenu haumaru hei raranga: Social Wellbeing
Since the arrival of visitors to Aotearoa, Māori have always been quick to assess and adapt language, technology and information. Contemporary society brings new languages, technology and information instantly to our fingertips. New pressures and demands can be a consequence of readily accessible knowledge. For all its advances, there are also disadvantages. For rangatahi, those with addictions and Māori whānau connections and wellbeing can be negatively affected.
This programme of research investigates examples of Māori approaches to social wellbeing. Through a series of research activities undertaken by the research team, a case study will emerge reflective of collaborative interactions with key stakeholder organisations. Utilising qualitative methods such as key informant, wānanga, hui, photo elicitation and go along interviews, the research is primed to capitalise on the collaborative relationships to affect national policy and regional service delivery.
Kairangahau · Researchers
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Dr Pita King
Dr Pita King
Pita King is a Kaupapa Māori Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Massey University. -
Dr. Moana Rarere
Dr. Moana Rarere
Moana Rarere (Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tūhoe, Whakatōhea) is a demographer at Te Ngira Institute for Population Research at the University of Waikato. She studies how and why populations change over time — including births, migration, deaths, and the social, economic, and cultural factors shaping these processes.A key focus of Moana's work is understanding birth trends and patterns (fertility) - both national and Māori - and how social, cultural, and policy influences shape family/whānau formation over time.Her research is grounded in Kaupapa Māori approaches and centres on supporting… -
Dr Rewi Nankivell
Dr Rewi Nankivell
Rewi Nankivell is a lecturer in psychology at the University of Waikato. He contributes to the intersection between lecturing and Kaupapa Māori psychology, Indigenous development, and te reo Māori revitalisation. His contributions are supported by the practical application of his research, aiming to provide tangible benefits for Māori. Currently, Rewi is advancing his scholarship through a doctorate in education, complementing his background in educational leadership and management. His profile highlights a commitment to integrating mātauranga Māori with contemporary psychological research… -
Dr Eleanor Britain
Dr Eleanor Britain
Dr Eleanor (Elle) Brittain is Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa and Ngāti Rakaipaaka. She is a Senior Lecturer in Te Kura Hinengaro Tangata, School of Psychology, based on the Pukeahu, Wellington campus. She is also a Clinical Psychologist.Her research focuses on issues pertinent to Māori, including research projects that have explored Māori psychology and wellbeing. With experience in implementing methodologies grounded in the values of Kaupapa Māori research theory, her research practice is predominantly qualitative. Ultimately she sees her work as in service of communities in order to… -
Hans Tiakiwai
Hans Tiakiwai
Ko Hāmua, ko Ngāti Mura, ko Te Mahurehure ngā hapū. Ko Waikirikiri, ko Te Putere o Potaka, ko Te Rewarewa ngā marae. Ko Tūhoe te iwi. I have spent more than 30 years in Māori education as a teacher, Deputy Principal, and for over a decade as Tumuaki of Te Wharekura o Rūātoki, building a kura where tamariki, whānau, and staff felt safe, valued, and connected to who they are. Grounded in te reo Māori, tikanga, and mātauranga Māori, my leadership has always centred on one belief: when people feel seen, and their strengths are recognised, they are capable of extraordinary things. Along the way, I… -
Megan Fitzpatrick
Megan Fitzpatrick
Megan Fitzpatrick specialises in trade policy, with a strong focus on the agricultural sector. This comes from over 10 years of public sector experience working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry for Primary Industries and at Capital & Coast District Health Board. She enjoys translating complex data into advice with real-world implications for New Zealanders. She brings a robust set of quantitative skills to NZIER, including Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling, Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) analysis, and cost-benefit evaluation. -
Professor Darrin Hodgetts
Professor Darrin Hodgetts
Darrin Hodgetts is a societal and community psychologist with interests in addressing issues of health, urban poverty, precarity, and homelessness. Darrin supervises masters and PHD candidates on a range of topics from experiences of traumatic occupations, to intermit partner violence, everyday cultural reproduction, pro-social behavior, migration and intergroup relations. He also has interests in theoretical and methodological concerns. Darrin is a societal and community psychologist with interests in addressing issues of health, urban poverty, precarity, and homelessness. Darrin supervises… -
Tiana Watkins
Tiana Watkins
I am a mokopuna, daughter, māmā, and nan from Tauranga Moana, where my tūpuna arrived on both the Mataatua and Takitimu waka. I whakapapa to Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Pūkenga, and Ngāti Ranginui, and also to Ngāi Tahu (Kai Tahu).I am unapologetically Māori, guided by my whakapapa, grounded in my values, and committed to uplifting the wellbeing and wairua of our people. As Senior Manager for LifeKeepers, Aotearoa New Zealand’s national suicide prevention programme, I am honoured to lead kaupapa that centre whānau, connection, and collective strength across the motu.My journey began in Public…
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Kairangahau · Researchers
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Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Researcher and academic, Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora was formerly the Director of the Māori & Psychology Research Unit in the School of Psychology at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. In 2017, she became a Professor Indigenous Studies at the University of Auckland where she was also Co-Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence (2017-2025). She presently teaches in the Master's of Indigenous Studies programme and supervises dissertations, master's theses and PhDs.Her specialty interests are in the development of indigenous psychologies…
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