New Zealand Pew Survey ‘Spring 2021’ Covid-related Results

NZ results relating to Covid of a ‘Spring’ Pew Research center survey are presented. NZers tend to be strong supporters of NZ’s handling of the Covid outbreak.

The Social Demography of Covid-19 Delta

Publically available information concerning the scanning, testing, vaccination, covid-catching are examined both to describe the over-time patterns but also to indicate possibly causal linkages to underlying social patterns.

Well-Being Indicators in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Since the turn of the Millenium there have been active developments of social indicator frameworks in New Zealand, alongside related efforts of economic, environmental, and health indicators. The first phase included the Ministry of Social Development’s Social Report and the – still on-going - Quality of Life Project alongside living standards studies and the academic FWWP[1] study drawing on census data. In the second decade a new approach gradually emerged. The Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) General Social Survey provided a firm foundation for developing indicators, international conceptualisation from the OECD and other sources was explicitly drawn on, the Household Economic Survey underwent ongoing enhancement and Treasury embarked on the long-term development of its Living Standards framework. A recent fillip driven by the emerging rhetoric of ‘Social Well Being’ has been the institutionalising of social indicators in the forthcoming Treasury Wellbeing report, an interest in social cohesion, mobilisation of academic knowledge, consideration of a wider range of inputs (especially on behalf of ethnic communities) and establishment of more active SNZ and other websites and dashboards, which supply useful single-variable vignettes and considerable downloadable source data but little analysis. The New Zealand social indicator system, within the increasingly comprehensive overall indicator system, is beginning to consolidate but needs more considered development. [1] The Family and Whanau Wellbeing Project was carried out at the University Auckland: see Cotterell & Crothers, 2011.

Keeping Keeping New Zealand in the World Values Survey, 1985-2019:

A brief review of the World Values Survey (WVS) is presented. Seven waves of the survey have occurred since the 1980’s, in between 50 and 80 different countries, using a common questionnaire of several hundred items covering a wide range of social and political views. The WVS in New Zealand is then described, having completed six waves between 1985 and the latest survey in 2019. New Zealand social researchers are urged to make use of the WVS data, which is freely available on the WVS website, for all waves. WVS data can be used for cross-national comparisons, examining issues within New Zealand and to consider changes in social views over time. Examples of some the most evident social trends over time in New Zealand are presented. These include increasing environmental concern, social tolerance, support for gender equality, and increasing value placed on the Treaty of Waitangi. Declines can be seen in religiosity, active participation in some types of voluntary organisations, a willingness to fight for the country and the use of traditional media as a source of news. Several illustrative cross-national comparisons are also presented including a dramatic difference in attitudes towards migrants between New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand Consumer Lifestyles

This article reports on the results of a consumer lifestyles segmentation study of the adult New Zealand population, which is part of an ongoing research programme conducted by consumer behaviour researchers at the University of Otago since 1979. Six lifestyle segments were identified: the ‘Educated Liberals’, ‘Financial Strugglers’, ‘Contemporary New Zealanders’, ‘Uncertain Young’, ‘Traditional Family Values’, and, the ‘Disengaged’. These segments are based on responses to nearly 200 questions about consumer attitudes, opinions and behaviours from 1,640 respondents. The discussion of the segments provides a number of new and useful insights into the contemporary world of the New Zealand consumer.

Research Note on Experiences and Attitudes Going Forward with and Beyond Delta (Version 1: late-September1 )

The attitudinal base of support for the current ‘elimination strategy’ regime in NZ is assessed using current and recent survey data – covering attitudes and reports in relation to social distancing and mask wearing, to the boundary, and the lockdown and its effects. Evidence is compiled, too, on attitudes towards any resetting of New Zealand’s Covid regime and possible pivots to alternatives.

Review of Julie Spray’s (2020) The Children in Child Health: Negotiating Young Lives and Health in New Zealand. Rutgers University Press.

Review of Julie Spray’s (2020) The Children in Child Health: Negotiating Young Lives and Health in New Zealand. Rutgers University Press.

The Enigma of Class in Aotearoa New Zealand

Review of Chris Wilkes, Reinventing Capitalism in New Zealand, Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle, 2019.

A local focus: Implementing policies for land-use change in the Wairoa District

This paper explores community attitudes to policies designed to promote increased afforestation in the Wairoa District in Northern Hawkes Bay. The approach adopted involved face-to-face interviews with over 80 local residents, including farmers and iwi representatives, as well as policy makers, land agents, forestry experts, and scientists in Hawke’s Bay and elsewhere in the country. Group meetings were also held with farmers, iwi and others in the Wairoa District. Community engagement extended from mid-2019 to early in 2020. Concerns raised about increased afforestation included its impact on employment and pastoral land use and on the provision of public services. Such concerns are grounded in some part in Wairoa’s history and traditional dependence on the hill country as the source of its identity and social well-being. Increased tree planting confronts the perceptions and experience of many land users and other community members. Resistance is heightened where the policy goals appear to conflict with economic well-being or to undermine existing values. At the same time there is evidence of a broad consensus in favour of tree planting to meet environmental needs. Current policies challenge land users’ capacity to adapt and respond to the opportunities these policies provide. Building capacity requires the provision of information and other evidence to increase understanding among all stake-holder groups

Review of Hugh Dickey’s (2021) The Changing face of rural New Zealand: A study of rural demographic changes over 170 years, and the story behind them

Review of Hugh Dickey’s (2021) The Changing face of rural New Zealand: A study of rural demographic changes over 170 years, and the story behind them