How New Zealand’s Infrastructure Deficit Shows Up In Our Communities

By Stacey Shortall

When politicians talk about “infrastructure,” many of us picture big projects: motorways, tunnels, ports, and airports. But in the community work I do - whether in low-decile primary schools at Homework Clubs, inside prisons, or with grassroots charities - I see a different kind of infrastructure deficit. One that shows up not in steel and concrete, but in the daily lives of families and children.

Where It Shows Up Most

• Housing: Right now, around 20,000 households are on the public housing waitlist. Families move three or four times a year because of unaffordable rents or damp, unhealthy homes. Each move can mean children switching schools, disrupting friendships and learning.

• Digital access: Around 20% of New Zealand households in low-income areas lack reliable internet or devices. This digital divide disproportionately affects Maori, Pasifika peoples, and those in social housing. At Homework Clubs, I see kids without laptops, facing heading to intermediate or college without the technology required and therefore unable to do assignments that assume online access.

• Transport: In some regions, 30–40% of households have no access to frequent public transport. Parents working long hours can’t get their children to after-school programmes, medical appointments, or even regular classes. For many families, transport is the difference between participation and isolation.

• Community facilities: Many schools and community centres are underfunded and overused. Nearly 50% of all charities report an increase in people needing their services, while many face shrinking budgets and facilities with leaking roofs or outdated equipment.

• Health services: Mental health waiting times for young people can stretch to 3–6 months, if support is available at all. Families on low incomes skip GP visits because of cost, despite nearly 1 in 10 children living in material hardship and needing more, not less, health support.

These aren’t abstract numbers. They are the daily reality for the families I meet.

What I’ve Learned

In my community work, I’ve learned that the infrastructure deficit isn’t just about roads and pipes. It’s about the invisible systems that hold people up - or let them down. A child’s learning is shaped by the bus that doesn’t come, the internet that doesn’t connect, the house that isn’t warm, and the clinic that isn’t open.

I’ve also learned that charities and volunteers are too often asked to fill these gaps. Homework Clubs step in with laptop donations when digital access is missing. Foodbanks step in when incomes don’t cover rent and groceries. Community groups step in when housing is unstable or transport unreliable.

But goodwill is not infrastructure. Volunteers cannot fix systemic cracks with band-aids.

The Cost of Doing Nothing

New Zealand’s overall infrastructure deficit has been estimated at over $200 billion. But beyond the dollar figure, the cost shows up in children falling behind at school, parents stretching themselves across multiple jobs, and communities carrying burdens they cannot sustain.

If we do not address this deficit, we entrench inequality. We make it harder for families to get ahead. And we risk losing the potential of a generation of young people whose opportunities are clipped before they even begin.

A Call to Action

We need to broaden our understanding of infrastructure. Yes, we need resilient roads, pipes, and power grids. But we also need to invest in housing, transport, digital access, community facilities, and health. These are just as critical to New Zealand’s future.

In the communities I work with, resilience is abundant - families keep going despite hardship. But resilience should not be required because infrastructure is absent. Strong, fair infrastructure is what allows resilience to become a choice and an opportunity, rather than a survival necessity.

The question is not whether we can afford to invest. The real question is: how much longer can we afford not to.