1 in 4 Kiwis tick all boxes for happy life

Only a quarter of Kiwis have all four elements of wellbeing — good relationships, housing, finances and health, a survey has revealed. Most New Zealanders are happy with life and have enough money. About 83 per cent rate their life satisfaction as seven or above.

The largest social survey in New Zealand, the General Social Survey, was released yesterday by Statistics NZ.

Its purpose is to measure individuals’ perceptions of their life, looking beyond purely economic reasons.

Only one in four Kiwis could tick “yes” to all the positive outcomes for health, finances, quality relationships and no major housing problems.

Almost 20 per cent had either one good outcome or none.

For those with no good outcomes over half reported low life satisfaction. While, unsurprisingly, 97 per cent of those who had all four good outcomes had high life satisfaction.

Those who were earning under $30,000, were disabled, unemployed or acting as sole parents had lower rates of life satisfaction.

Around 18 per cent of Kiwis said they had more than enough money to meet everyday needs, up from 13 per cent in 2008. Just under 11 per cent said they did not have enough to pay for basics.

When asked to define New Zealand many Kiwis placed freedom, rights, peace, and the natural scenery and environment at the top of the list.

Pacific people were twice as likely to rate sports as extremely important in defining New Zealand.

Around half of Maori rated Maori culture as 10 out of 10 importance, but only a quarter of the total population gave it the same rating.

Statistics NZ senior analyst Rosemary Goodyear explained there was often a life curve that as people became older they were more satisfied with life. They also tended to own their own homes and were less likely to have a tertiary qualification.

People in Northland, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne had the highest “life worthwhile” ratings with 31 per cent rating it 10 out of 10.

The General Social Survey has run every two years since 2008-09.

The latest survey got just under 9000 participants to rate their sense of belonging to New Zealand, their community and family, as well as their trust in society and levels of civic participation.

Wellbeing statistics include measures of how New Zealanders rate their overall life satisfaction.

Last year’s overall life satisfaction score was the same as this year with the highest ratings going to employed people and Europeans (both 84 per cent), those aged 65-plus and homeowners (86 per cent), couples without children (87 per cent), graduates with degrees and new migrants (88 per cent) and those earning at least $70,000 a year (93 per cent). The Marlborough green gecko, Naultinus manukanus, was reported missing on Wednesday.