Kiwis view Economic issues as biggest problems facing NZ

Friday, 3 April 2015, 9:32 am
Press Release: Roy Morgan Research

Kiwis view Economic issues (40%) as the biggest problems facing NZ; Housing shortage/ affordability up 4% to 10% in March

In March 2015, Economic issues 40% (down 1% since December 2014) are still clearly the most important problems facing New Zealand and the biggest problems facing the World today are War/ Terrorism & Security Issues 41% (up 12%) according to the latest Roy Morgan Research conducted in March 2015.

New Zealand views on Problems facing New Zealand

When asked about the most important problem facing New Zealand, 40% of New Zealanders mention some kind of Economic issue. This is down 1% from December 2014 but still well ahead of Government/ Public policy/ Human rights issues 26% (up 5%), Social issues 15% (down 5%) and Environmental issues 7% (up 1%).

The most important Economic issues facing New Zealand include Poverty / The gap between the rich and the poor 18% (down 2%), Unemployment/ Job security 8% (up 2%), Cost of living/ Increasing prices/ Financial hardship/ Household debt 5% (unchanged) and Economy/ Financial crisis/ Recession/ Inflation/ Exchange rate/ High dollar 5% (down 1%).

There has been a significant increase in New Zealanders mentioning Housing shortage/ Housing affordability 10% (up 4%) as a problem facing New Zealand, while other important issues include the Government/ Politicians/ Leadership/ Government spending 9% (up 1%), Social apathy/ Lack of values/ Lack of empathy/ Intolerance 3% (down 1%) and Child abuse/ Lack of care for children 3% (up 1%).

New Zealand views on Problems facing the World

The biggest World problems are now War & Terrorism/ Security (41%, up a large 12% since December 2014) followed by Economic issues 25% (down 5%), Social Issues 13% (down 1%) and Environmental issues 9% (down 3%).

Among the War & Terrorism/ Security issues facing the World mentioned by New Zealanders are Terrorism 23% (up a very large15%), Wars and Conflicts/ Unrest 12% (unchanged), and Religion/ Religious Conflict 3% (down 4%).

Of the Economic issues facing the World mentioned by New Zealanders the most important are Poverty/ The gap between the rich and poor/ Imbalance of wealth 14% (down 2%), the Economy/ Financial crisis/ Recession 3% (down 3%), Cost of living/ Increasing prices/ Financial hardship/ Household debt 3% (unchanged), Unemployment/ Job security 2% (up 1%) and Over-population 2% (down 1%).

Other important issues are Social apathy/ Lack of values/ Lack of empathy towards others/ Intolerance 5% (down 1%), Climate change/ Global warming/ Ozone layer/ Greenhouse effect 5% (down 1%), Government/ Politicians/ Political unrest/ Instability/ Corrupt Governments 3% (up 1%) and Greed 3% (down 1%).

Gary Morgan, Executive Chairman, Roy Morgan says:

“Economic issues continue to dominate in New Zealand – 40% (down 1%) of New Zealanders say the biggest problems facing New Zealand, and Prime Minister John Key as he settles into his third term in office, are Economic. These include Poverty/ The gap between the rich and the poor/ Imbalance of wealth 18% (down 2%), Unemployment/ Job security 8% (up 2%) – clearly lower than across the Tasman in Australia (13%), Cost of living/ Increasing prices/ Financial hardship/ Household debt 5% (unchanged) and the Economy/ Financial crisis/ Recession/ Inflation/ Exchange rate/ High dollar 5% (down 1%).

“There has been a large increase in New Zealanders nominating Government/ Public policy/ Human rights issues 26% (up 5%) as the biggest problems facing New Zealand – the highest this indicator has ever been. What should worry the Key Government is the significant increase in New Zealanders mentioning Housing shortage/ Housing affordability 10% (up 4%) – Housing affordability is a huge problem in Auckland. Over the 12 months to March 2015, house prices in Auckland have soared 13.9% according to the QV Residential Price Movement Index – and over 45.8% since 2007. Over the same time periods housing prices in New Zealand as a whole have increased by around half this rate – by 7.7% over the past year and by 21.3% since 2007.

“The biggest problem facing the World according to New Zealanders is War/ Terrorism & Security issues – now at 41% (up 12%). This is clearly the highest these issues have been since Roy Morgan began surveying on these questions in New Zealand more than four years ago in November 2010.

“Despite the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Conference in Paris later this year – the follow-up to the Copenhagen Conference in 2009, Environmental issues are not regarded as an important problem facing the World 9% (down 3%) or New Zealand 7% (up 1%) by the vast majority of New Zealanders. These low figures may make it difficult for Prime Minister John Key to advocate for any ‘tough action’ on Climate change that arises out of the talks.”

These findings come from a special New Zealand Roy Morgan survey conducted with New Zealanders aged 14+ asked what are the most important issues facing New Zealand and the World today.

ENDS

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Roy Morgan Research

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A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has over 70 years' experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers. Roy Morgan Research was set up in New Zealand in the 1990s and has been collecting information across a wide range of industries in New Zealand ever since. Roy Morgan currently has over 10 years of trended data on a geographically and demographically representative sample of over 12,000 New Zealanders aged 14+.

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