NZ: Dumb, broke and fat - but we're still happy 

NZ: Dumb, broke and fat - but we're still happy

By VERNON SMALL

We are undereducated, underpaid, overweight, rough on our kids but basically happy.


That's the picture of New Zealanders painted by the latest report card on our social wellbeing.

The study, released yesterday by the Social Development Ministry, shows things in New Zealand have generally improved since the mid-1990s.

We rank in the top half of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for two-thirds of the indicators where data can be compared with other countries, and we rank fifth out of the 26 OECD countries on the complacency-ometer ? an overwhelming 80 per cent of us say we are satisfied with our lives.

Compared with the populace across the ditch, New Zealand has better rates of employment, less obesity, more women in Parliament and greater trust in others. But Australians have better incomes, tertiary education and adult literacy rates and they smoke less.

The report, the third in a series produced by the ministry, shows that compared with the OECD average New Zealand performs well on life expectancy, education, employment, trust in others and absence of corruption.

But we are in the bottom half of the OECD in per capita incomes (despite an improvement in the last three years), income inequality, rates of child deaths by maltreatment, youth suicide, obesity and literacy.

Voter turnout, housing affordability, income inequality and income levels have deteriorated since the 1980s.

But the ministry said the May Budget, and its "Working for families" package should have a positive impact on these indicators.

National's welfare spokeswoman Katherine Rich said the report card gave the country a C-plus and highlighted yet again areas of critical need. "For the sake of our children we cannot accept such a dismal pass mark."

In the year to June 2003, 31,781 care and protection notices were made to Child, Youth and Family, and 7361 children were assessed for being abused or neglected, she said.

"Our youth suicide rate remains the highest in the world for males and second highest for females."

Poor literacy rates and an average wage that lagged behind Australia provided real cause for concern. "You would expect an improvement in some of these indicators in the current economic environment," she said.

Green Party social services spokeswoman Sue Bradford said the report showed that the gap between the haves and have-nots was still widening. "It's all very well to have a strong economy but too many New Zealanders are being left out in the cold."

She called for an immediate rise of the minimum wage to $11 an hour, saying it was shameful that 10 per cent of New Zealanders live in overcrowded accommodation.

The report shows that the gaps between Maori and Pacific people and the rest of the population are closing. For instance Maori are outstripping everyone else in their participation rate in tertiary education, at 16 per cent against 10 per cent for the rest of the population.

The figures include training schemes and modern apprenticeships.

But the increased participation rate had not translated into higher educational attainment, with Maori and Pacific people improving on previous years but still lagging behind the rest of the population.

END