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The New Zealand dream (or the Kiwi dream) centres on the acquisition of a family house [1] on a quarter-acre section, [2] with at least one motor vehicle. [3] [ failed verification ] [4] The New Zealand dream resembles the Australian Dream. For many New Zealanders this dream could also include a pleasure boat, a bach and a holiday at the beach. [5]
The New Zealand dream of acquiring a family home was supported by government policies from the late-nineteenth century through much of the twentieth century, [6] although housing affordability has become a political issue, with limited measures[ citation needed ] to alleviate rising house prices. [7]
An alternative to this New Zealand dream is "smart growth". The smart-growth concept has no quarter-acre section, no family house and no car. People live in small apartments and use public transport. Smart growth commonly occurs in countries with little free land (such as Hong Kong).
When New Zealand and Australian couples have children they show a very strong preference for family housing (Figure 1). [8] Australian research shows 85% of people who live in apartments would rather live in a house. [9]
American families also prefer family houses, with studies showing that Americans living in multi-family dwellings (apartments etc.) have less children, lowering the demand for schools . [10] One hundred typical homes generate an average of 54.7 school-aged children; but multifamily homes generate only about two thirds the students, with 36.7 school-aged children per 100 households. [10] Apartment households have much lower incomes than those living in family houses and are more likely to suffer from poverty related problems such as overcrowding. [11]
US dwelling type | Median household income (1999) [11] |
---|---|
Family houses | $50,739 |
Apartments | $27,543 |
Studies have shown that fertility is highest among couples living in single-family houses and lowest among those residing in apartments. [12] Experts claim that shortages of family housing can cause low birth rates. “Some have suggested that, like laboratory specimens, Italians have responded to their ever-more-crowded-suburbs and cramped apartments by curbing procreation”. [13] Children “aren't wanted in the condominia (apartments), in public places where they can disturb”. [13] “Houses are bigger in the U.S. and generally more available. That may help explain why Americans have more babies”. [14]
Using a scatterplot (Figure 2) has the advantage that cultural effects are average out, revealing the underlying effect of housing on fertility rates. The correlation value (R=0.81) indicates that there is a strong positive correlation between family housing and fertility rates. Advanced countries that have mostly apartments are typically producing only 2/3rds of the children of countries that have mostly family housing.
Having children sustains culture and is good for the economy. Overall Anglo countries have enough children to be approximately sustainable. New Zealand and the United States produce a slight surplus of children, while Ireland, Australia and the UK have modest deficits.
Fertility rate | |
---|---|
New Zealand | 2.18 [15] |
United States | 2.10 [16] |
Anglo countries | 2.03 |
Ireland | 2.03 [17] |
Australia | 1.93 [18] |
United Kingdom | 1.90 [19] |
Canada | 1.59 [20] |
City of Vancouver | 1.06 [21] |
New Zealand has a demand for more skilled workers. There is a limited supply of highly skilled migrants available and competition between countries. [22] Housing is one of the factors affecting migration. "Access to affordable and suitable housing is an indicator of positive settlement in society, and home ownership is an indicator of economic wellbeing and represents an intention of long-term settlement". [23] To attract highly skilled migrants New Zealand must have desirable living conditions, otherwise they will go somewhere else, such as the United States.
The United Kingdom is by far New Zealand's most important source country of skilled migrants. [24] British studies show that only 2% of British citizens want to live in a low rise apartment, and only 1% in a high rise apartment block. [25] The vast majority prefer to live in a house.
British people are also very fond of spending time in the garden, with more than 70% claiming that it improves their quality of life, and half (48%) of whom felt it was the most enjoyable activity above watching TV (33%) and shopping (14%). [26] A third of Brits also believe that gardens are romantic and can boost their love lives.
Over time Kiwi homes are becoming larger and more luxurious. While old homes were mostly box-shaped bungalows, new houses are architecturally more complex, creating houses that are more individualistic and aesthetically pleasing. Popular extras can include a rumpus room (kids playroom), walk-in wardrobes, walk-in kitchen pantries, more bedrooms and extra bathrooms.
New homes have more insulation and those built in the South Island must use double glazing. By 2025 New Zealand intends to increase the share of renewable electricity production from the current 70% to over 90%. [27] All new wood-fires are required to be very efficient and the number of homes using efficient heat pump technology is growing rapidly. “Creating more efficient houses is a triple win for New Zealanders’, our health, our environment and our power bills” (Helen Clark Prime Minister 1999–2008). [28]
The floor area of new dwellings built in New Zealand is extremely variable ranging from as little as 30 m2 for a small apartment to more than 500 m2 for a large house. The average floor area is approximately 200 m2, [29] similar to new American [30] and Australian homes. [31] The housing indicator value of new homes (=150) is higher than for the existing stock (see Figure 2 above), which may cause fertility rates to gradually rise over the coming decades.
The production of affordable motor vehicles has enabled the development of a suburban lifestyle culture, which combines the advantages of city life, with the luxury of ample living space.
In New Zealand ownership of a motor vehicle is regarded by many as a rite of passage, representing the important transition from adolescence to being an independent adult.
International statistics show that New Zealanders have one of the highest rates of motor vehicle ownership in the world (Figure 5). Toyota is the most popular make, while Holden Commodore is the most popular model.
The demographics of New Zealand encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 5.3 million people living in New Zealand. New Zealanders predominantly live in urban areas on the North Island. The five largest cities are Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, and Tauranga. Few New Zealanders live on New Zealand's smaller islands. Waiheke Island is easily the most populated smaller island with 9,140 residents, while Great Barrier Island, the Chatham and Pitt Islands, and Stewart Island each have populations below 1,000. New Zealand is part of a realm and most people born in the realm's external territories of Tokelau, the Ross Dependency, the Cook Islands and Niue are entitled to New Zealand passports.
The economy of New Zealand is a highly developed free-market economy. It is the 52nd-largest national economy in the world when measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 63rd-largest in the world when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). New Zealand has one of the most globalised economies and depends greatly on international trade, mainly with China, Australia, the European Union, the United States, and Japan. New Zealand's 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia means that the economy aligns closely with that of Australia. Among OECD nations, New Zealand has a highly efficient and strong social security system; social expenditure stood at roughly 19.4% of GDP.
As of June 2023, the population of Singapore stands at 5.92 million. Of these 5.92 million people, 4.15 million are residents, consisting of 3.61 million citizens and 540,000 permanent residents (PRs). The remaining 1.77 million people living in Singapore are classed as non-residents, a group consisting mainly of resident workers without political rights who are routinely excluded from official demographic statistics.
Sub-replacement fertility is a total fertility rate (TFR) that leads to each new generation being less populous than the older, previous one in a given area. The United Nations Population Division defines sub-replacement fertility as any rate below approximately 2.1 children born per woman of childbearing age, but the threshold can be as high as 3.4 in some developing countries because of higher mortality rates. Taken globally, the total fertility rate at replacement was 2.33 children per woman in 2003. This can be "translated" as 2 children per woman to replace the parents, plus a "third of a child" to make up for the higher probability of males born and mortality prior to the end of a person's fertile life. In 2020, the global average fertility rate was around 2.4 children born per woman.
Gordon Frank Copeland was a New Zealand politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2008. He entered the House of Representatives as a list MP for the United Future New Zealand Party from 2002 but he resigned from the party in 2007. In March 2009, Copeland became Party President of The Kiwi Party, which he had co-founded with another former United Future list MP, Larry Baldock, in May 2007. Copeland stood for the Conservative Party in the 2011 New Zealand general election. Prior to entering Parliament he held a number of corporate positions before working as the financial administrator for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington.
In Australian and New Zealand English, a quarter acre is a term for a suburban plot of land. Traditionally, Australians and New Zealanders aspired to own a 3- or 4-bedroom house or bungalow on a section of around a quarter of an acre, also known locally as the Australian Dream or the New Zealand dream. The land was frequently put to use with vegetable gardens, fruit trees, or lawns for family recreation.
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
Foreign relations between neighbouring countries Australia and New Zealand, also referred to as Trans-Tasman relations, are extremely close. Both countries share a British colonial heritage as antipodean Dominions and settler colonies, and both are part of the core Anglosphere. New Zealand sent representatives to the constitutional conventions which led to the uniting of the six Australian colonies but opted not to join. In the Boer War and in both world wars, New Zealand soldiers fought alongside Australian soldiers. In recent years the Closer Economic Relations free trade agreement and its predecessors have inspired ever-converging economic integration. Despite some shared similarities, the cultures of Australia and New Zealand also have their own sets of differences and there are sometimes differences of opinion which some have declared as symptomatic of sibling rivalry. This often centres upon sports and in commercio-economic tensions, such as those arising from the failure of Ansett Australia and those engendered by the formerly long-standing Australian ban on New Zealand apple imports.
KiwiSaver is a New Zealand savings scheme which has been operating since 2 July 2007. Participants can normally access their KiwiSaver funds only after the age of 65, but can withdraw them earlier in certain limited circumstances, for example if undergoing significant financial hardship or to use a deposit for a first home.
Social welfare has long been an important part of New Zealand society and a significant political issue. It is concerned with the provision by the state of benefits and services. Together with fiscal welfare and occupational welfare, it makes up the social policy of New Zealand. Social welfare is mostly funded through general taxation. Since the 1980s welfare has been provided on the basis of need; the exception is universal superannuation.
Migration to New Zealand began only very recently in human history, with Polynesian settlement in New Zealand, previously uninhabited, about 1250 CE to 1280 CE. European migration provided a major influx, especially following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Subsequent immigrants have come chiefly from the British Isles, but also from continental Europe, the Pacific, the Americas and Asia.
The Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 10 December 1999 to 19 November 2008. Labour Party leader Helen Clark negotiated a coalition with Jim Anderton, leader of the Alliance Party. While undertaking a number of substantial reforms, it was not particularly radical compared to previous Labour governments.
Home ownership in Australia is considered a key cultural icon, and part of the Australian tradition known as the Great Australian Dream of "owning a detached house on a fenced block of land." Home ownership has been seen as creating a responsible citizenry; according to a former Premier of Victoria: "The home owner feels that he has a stake in the country, and that he has something worth working for, living for, fighting for."
Māori Australians are Australians of Māori heritage. The Māori presence in Australia dates back to the 19th century when Māori travelled to Sydney to trade, acquire new technology, and learn new ideas. The Māori population in Australia remained marginal until the 1960s. During the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries, thousands of Māori would emigrate from New Zealand to pursue employment opportunities in blue collar occupations such as shearing, construction, manufacturing, and mining. In 2013, there were approximately 140,000–170,000 people with Māori ancestry living in Australia. Māori Australians constitute Australia's largest Polynesian ethnic group.
The Zimbabwean diaspora refers to the diaspora of immigrants from the nation of Zimbabwe and their descendants who now reside in other countries. The number of Zimbabweans living outside Zimbabwe varies significantly from 4 to 7 million people, though it is generally accepted at over 5 million people, some 30 per cent of all Zimbabweans. Varying degrees of assimilation and a high degree of interethnic marriages in the Zimbabwean diaspora communities makes determining exact figures difficult. The diaspora population is extremely diverse and consists of Shona people, Ndebele, white Zimbabweans, mixed-race people, Asians, Jewish people and other minority groups. The diaspora traces their origin to several waves of emigration, starting with the exodus that followed the 1965, unilateral declaration of independence in Rhodesia, but significantly since the sociopolitical crisis that began in 2000.
The Australian property market comprises the trade of land and its permanent fixtures located within Australia. The average Australian property price grew 0.5% per year from 1890 to 1990 after inflation, however rose from 1990 to 2017 at a faster rate. House prices in Australia receive considerable attention from the media and the Reserve Bank and some commentators have argued that there is an Australian property bubble.
The Great Recession in Oceania was the great recession of the late 2000s and early 2010s in Oceania. The Oceanic countries suffered minimal impact during this time, in comparison with the impact that North America and Europe felt.
New Zealand Australians refers to Australian citizens whose origins are in New Zealand, as well as New Zealand migrants and expatriates based in Australia. Migration from New Zealand to Australia is a common phenomenon, given Australia's proximity to New Zealand, its larger economy, free movement agreement and cultural links between the two countries.
The property bubble in New Zealand is a major national economic and social issue. Since the early 1990s, house prices in New Zealand have risen considerably faster than incomes, putting increasing pressure on public housing providers as fewer households have access to housing on the private market. The property bubble has produced significant impacts on inequality in New Zealand, which now has one of the highest homelessness rate in the OECD and a record-high waiting list for public housing. Government policies have attempted to address the crisis since 2013, but have produced limited impacts to reduce prices or increase the supply of affordable housing. However, prices started falling in 2022 in response to tightening of mortgage availability and supply increasing. Some areas saw drops as high as around 9% - albeit from very high prices.
Housing in New Zealand was traditionally based on the quarter-acre block, detached suburban home, but many historical exceptions and alternative modern trends exist. New Zealand has largely followed international designs. From the time of organised European colonisation in the mid-19th century there has been a general chronological development in the types of homes built in New Zealand, and examples of each generation are still commonly occupied.
'Auckland also saw its average asking price top $600,000 for the second time on record, while Canterbury's average asking price tipped the $400,000 mark for the third time in the past 12 months,' [marketing manager Paul] McKenzie said.