May 26, 2015 12:05pm by David Farrar

NZ General Social Survey 2014

Stats NZ has released results from the General Social Survey they do every two years. They show that for most NZ families, things are better than in 2008. Some comparisons:

Families who say they have enough money have gone from 51.3% in 2008 to 62.8% in 2014
Families who say they do not have enough money have gone from 15.4% in 2008 to 12.2% in 2014
Families who say just have enough money have gone from 33.3% in 2008 to 25.0% in 2014
The proportion feeling safe walking home at night has gone from 51.5% in 2008 to 60.9% in 2014

Some other interesting data:

82.6% rate their overall life satisfaction as 7/10 or higher
70.5% of unemployed rate their overall life satisfaction at 7/10 or higher
73.0% of families with income under $30,000 rate their overall life satisfaction at 7/10 or higher
Only 24.6% of families with income under $30,000 say they do not have enough money to meet everyday needs
Recent migrants are happier with 88.3% saying they rate their overall life satisfaction as 7/10 or higher
Those rating life satisfaction as 7/10 or better are Maori 77.9%, Pasifika 78.1%, Asians 81.5% and Europeans 84.1%
86.4% say they are in good or better health

In terms of being comfortable with a new neighbour who is different to them: