New Zealand dream - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The New Zealand dream is centered around the acquisition of a family house on a quarter acre

Quarter Acre

In Australian and New Zealand English, a quarter acre is a term for a suburban plot of land. Traditionally, Australians and New Zealanders aspire 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...

section, with at least one motor vehicle. The New Zealand dream is similar to the Australian Dream

Australian Dream

The Australian Dream or Great Australian Dream is a belief that in Australia, home ownership can lead to a better life and is an expression of success and security...

. For many New Zealanders their dreams could also include a pleasure boat, a bach

Bach (New Zealand)

A bach is a small, often very modest holiday home or beach house. Alternatively called a crib, they are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture, especially in the middle of the 20th century, where they symbolized the beach holiday lifestyle that was becoming more accessible to the...

and a holiday at the beach.

Family housing and motor vehicles provide a high standard of living. Being very expensive they are powerful work motivators, with house mortgages often taking decades to repay.

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 and continues to be supported by the ruling National Party.

It may still play a role in nation building, through attracting skilled immigrants seeking a better life. Family housing also encourages people to have more children. Skilled migrants and children strengthen the nation and are good for the economy.

The opposite of this New Zealand dream is called smart growth

Smart growth

Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...

. The smart growth concept has no quarter acre

Quarter Acre

section, no family house and no car

Čar

Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...

. People live in small apartments and use public transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

. Smart growth commonly occurs in countries with inadequate land resources (e.g. Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

Children

When New Zealand and Australian couples have children they show a very strong preference for family housing (Figure 1). There are some families that do live in apartments, but this does not normally occur by choice and is typically the result of some sort of family calamity (e.g. becoming a one-parent family). Australian research shows 85 % of people who live in apartments would rather live in a house.

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
. 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.. 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.

US dwelling type	Median household income (1999)
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. 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”. Children “aren't wanted in the condominiums (apartments), in public places where they can disturb”. “Houses are bigger in the U.S. and generally more available. That may help explain why Americans have more babies”.

Italy is not the only country experiencing family housing shortages. Within advanced countries housing shortages are very common. In figure 2 housing has been plotted against fertility rates for advanced countries. Countries that have an indicator value of zero have a dwelling stock made up almost entirely of small apartments. Dwellings in New Zealand, Australia and the United States are dominated by large family houses.

Using a scatterplot

Scatterplot

A scatter plot or scattergraph is a type of mathematical diagram using Cartesian coordinates to display values for two variables for a set of data....

(Figure 2) has the advantage that cultural effects are average out, revealing the underlying effect of housing on fertility rates. The correlation

Correlation

In statistics, dependence refers to any statistical relationship between two random variables or two sets of data. Correlation refers to any of a broad class of statistical relationships involving dependence....

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. Canada is only Anglo country with a serious fertility problem. Canada's fertility rate of 1.59 creates a child deficit three times larger than the UK (fertility rate = 1.9).
Canada has some good family housing areas, but their overall fertility rate is dragged down by the bad areas. For example the Canadian City of Vancouver has a massive child deficit. Like many inner-city areas it is not designed for 21st century living. The city is incapable of sustaining its existing population, and is thoroughly dependant on foreign migrants to prevent depopulation and urban decay

Urban decay

Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...

	Fertility rate
New Zealand	2.18
United States	2.10
Anglo countries	2.03
Ireland	2.03
Australia	1.93
United Kingdom	1.90
Canada	1.59
City of Vancouver	1.06

Skilled migration

New Zealand has a demand for more skilled workers. There is a limited supply of highly skilled migrants available and competition between countries. 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". 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 Zealands most important source country of skilled migrants. British studies show that only 2% of UK citizens want to live in a low rise apartment, and only 1% in a high rise apartment block. The vast majority preferring 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, half (48%) of which felt it was the most enjoyable activity above watching TV (33%) and shopping (14%)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8178203.stm. A third of Brits also believe that gardens are romantic and can boost their love lives.

New homes

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

Building insulation

building insulation refers broadly to any object in a building used as insulation for any purpose. While the majority of insulation in buildings is for thermal purposes, the term also applies to acoustic insulation, fire insulation, and impact insulation...

and those built in the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

must use double glazing. By 2025 New Zealand intends to increase the share of renewable electricity production from the current 70% to over 90%. All new wood-fires are required to be very efficient and the number of homes using efficient heat pump

Heat pump

A heat pump is a machine or device that effectively "moves" thermal energy from one location called the "source," which is at a lower temperature, to another location called the "sink" or "heat sink", which is at a higher temperature. An air conditioner is a particular type of heat pump, but the...

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

Helen Clark

Helen Elizabeth Clark, ONZ is a New Zealand political figure who was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand for three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2008...

Prime Minister 1999-2008).

The floor area of new dwellings built in New Zealand is extremely variable ranging from as little as 30 m² for a small apartment

Apartment

An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

to more than 500 m² for a large house. The average floor area is approximately 200 m², similar to new American.http://www.census.gov/const/www/quarterly_starts_completions.pdf and Australian homes http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/featurearticlesbytitle/3E12D6C335EF3618CA25745C001489F1?OpenDocument. 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.

Motor vehicles

The production of affordable motor vehicles is amongst the greatest achievements of the 20th century. Cars have revolutionised society, enabling the development of a suburban lifestyle culture, which combines the advantages of city life, with the luxury of ample living space.

Motor vehicles symbolise freedom and prosperity. In New Zealand they are regarded as a right-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

Holden Commodore

The Holden Commodore is an automobile manufactured since 1978 by the Holden subsidiary of General Motors in Australia, and, formerly, in New Zealand. In the mid-1970s, Holden established proposals to replace the long-serving Kingswood nameplate with a smaller, Opel-based model...

is the most popular model.

Children

Skilled migration

New homes

Motor vehicles

See also