Alex Plum
@alexplum.bsky.social
Senior Research Fellow at NZ Policy Research Institute @AUT
When you live in a deprived area like mine homelessness is not hidden: when cycling to work I pass by cars where people sleep in them.
Auckland’s hidden homeless living in cars, abandoned buildings
Auckland’s hidden homeless living in cars, abandoned buildings
Report reveals homelessness in Auckland has doubled, but doesn't include rough sleepers in the suburbs.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 17, 2025 at 6:33 AM
When you live in a deprived area like mine homelessness is not hidden: when cycling to work I pass by cars where people sleep in them.
My concern is that using the Stats NZ’s research database the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to do individual-level analysis of vulnerable population like Rainbow+/Takatāpui people will become almost impossible
www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
Census concerns over the 'cost of getting it wrong'
Stats experts warn the cost of getting government data up to scratch could far outweigh the millions saved by scrapping the Census.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 3, 2025 at 5:46 AM
My concern is that using the Stats NZ’s research database the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to do individual-level analysis of vulnerable population like Rainbow+/Takatāpui people will become almost impossible
www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
It was great talking about my research on #BHN, see my interview here: www.youtube.com/live/7jBLe9e...
November 28, 2025 at 8:33 AM
It was great talking about my research on #BHN, see my interview here: www.youtube.com/live/7jBLe9e...
Are Māori and NZ European treated differently in New Zealand’s courtrooms? Our study suggests: yes!
We look at first-time drink-driving cases and find Māori are more likely to receive a community-based sentence than a (least severe) fine.
Read a summary here:
theconversation.com/maori-face-h...
We look at first-time drink-driving cases and find Māori are more likely to receive a community-based sentence than a (least severe) fine.
Read a summary here:
theconversation.com/maori-face-h...
Māori face harsher sentences than NZ Europeans for similar drink-driving offences – with lasting consequences
A new analysis of more than 10,000 first-time drink-driving cases reveals a troubling disparity.
theconversation.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Are Māori and NZ European treated differently in New Zealand’s courtrooms? Our study suggests: yes!
We look at first-time drink-driving cases and find Māori are more likely to receive a community-based sentence than a (least severe) fine.
Read a summary here:
theconversation.com/maori-face-h...
We look at first-time drink-driving cases and find Māori are more likely to receive a community-based sentence than a (least severe) fine.
Read a summary here:
theconversation.com/maori-face-h...
This is highly disturbing and my thoughts are with our transgender youth. And the effects will be clear: more self harm, suicide attempts, worse mental health. The time they lose to transition they will never get back. It’s so heartbreaking.
www.1news.co.nz/2025/11/19/g...
www.1news.co.nz/2025/11/19/g...
Govt halts puberty blockers for new gender dysphoria patients
Simeon Brown said the Government was taking a "precautionary approach" given "uncertainty" in the evidence about the medication's benefits or risks.
www.1news.co.nz
November 19, 2025 at 6:51 AM
This is highly disturbing and my thoughts are with our transgender youth. And the effects will be clear: more self harm, suicide attempts, worse mental health. The time they lose to transition they will never get back. It’s so heartbreaking.
www.1news.co.nz/2025/11/19/g...
www.1news.co.nz/2025/11/19/g...
Reposted by Alex Plum
Examining what happens to families after separation and divorce by following parents and kids using rich administrative data to find out, from Kabir Dasgupta, Andrew C. Johnston, Linda Kirkpatrick, Maxim N. Massenkoff, and Alexander Plum https://www.nber.org/papers/w33873
June 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Examining what happens to families after separation and divorce by following parents and kids using rich administrative data to find out, from Kabir Dasgupta, Andrew C. Johnston, Linda Kirkpatrick, Maxim N. Massenkoff, and Alexander Plum https://www.nber.org/papers/w33873
What happens with parents and their children when they split? We use NZ admin data and exact matching to look into numerous outcomes (labor market, physical and mental health, crime offending and victimization, child abuse, school absenteeism). Read our WP here:
www.nber.org/papers/w33873
www.nber.org/papers/w33873
Social and Health Outcomes around Divorce: Evidence from New Zealand
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
June 2, 2025 at 10:08 AM
What happens with parents and their children when they split? We use NZ admin data and exact matching to look into numerous outcomes (labor market, physical and mental health, crime offending and victimization, child abuse, school absenteeism). Read our WP here:
www.nber.org/papers/w33873
www.nber.org/papers/w33873
Reposted by Alex Plum
This NZ law aims to give people with criminal convictions a ‘clean slate’. It’s not working. Sharing these important insights from AUT Business School's Alexander Plum on an initiative that could (and should) do better. theconversation.com/this-nz-law-...
This NZ law aims to give people with criminal convictions a ‘clean slate’. It’s not working
New Zealand’s clean slate scheme is meant to let people leave their criminal past behind. But people are waiting seven years to leave their past behind, hurting their job prospects.
theconversation.com
May 5, 2025 at 10:15 PM
This NZ law aims to give people with criminal convictions a ‘clean slate’. It’s not working. Sharing these important insights from AUT Business School's Alexander Plum on an initiative that could (and should) do better. theconversation.com/this-nz-law-...
Please read our new conversation piece on New Zealand’s clean slate policy—and while the intention is to reward people who do not reoffend, we hardly find any positive labour market effects. Maybe waiting seven years is too long to be relevant for employers.
New Zealand’s clean slate scheme is meant to let people leave their criminal past behind. But people are waiting seven years to leave their past behind, hurting their job prospects.
This NZ law aims to give people with criminal convictions a ‘clean slate’. It’s not working
theconversation.com
May 2, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Please read our new conversation piece on New Zealand’s clean slate policy—and while the intention is to reward people who do not reoffend, we hardly find any positive labour market effects. Maybe waiting seven years is too long to be relevant for employers.
Reposted by Alex Plum
Sign the Petition
Reinstate Healthy and Nutritious School Lunches
www.change.org
March 18, 2025 at 11:27 PM
This NBER working paper shows that improving access to free school meals reduces the pressure on food banks
www.nber.org/papers/w33562
www.nber.org/papers/w33562
In-kind Government Assistance and Crowd-out of Charitable Services: Evidence from Free School Meals
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
March 17, 2025 at 5:09 PM
This NBER working paper shows that improving access to free school meals reduces the pressure on food banks
www.nber.org/papers/w33562
www.nber.org/papers/w33562
We looked into the economic outcomes of gender diverse people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Compared to cis individuals we find large employment and earning gaps.
The trans and non-binary community may be increasingly visible in New Zealand, but their economic outcomes are still very different to the wider population.
Trans and non-binary New Zealanders earn less and are more likely to be unemployed – new study
theconversation.com
March 12, 2025 at 7:43 PM
We looked into the economic outcomes of gender diverse people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Compared to cis individuals we find large employment and earning gaps.