Why New Zealand is seeing an exodus of over-30s

wewewedxfgdf

Is it because any NZ citizen gets to become citizens of Australia?

ares623

It's a pretty brutal negative feedback loop. This video explains it quite well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBpgTgFF1ek Even immigrants are just using New Zealand as a stepping-stone country to later move to Australia.

richardfeynman

Kiwi here. This is not a new phenomenon. Not sure why this is news.

Kina

Don’t worry Peter Thiel will help change that after he destroys the functionality of most of the global economy since he’s basically asserted that New Zealand is his break glass refuge.

ggm

In times past, Oz dislike of Kiwi property acquisition along the Gold Coast was possibly more pointed than the expected anti Japanese and anti Chinese racism. It doesn't do us any credit how quickly we fall back on these petty differences. I do feel very sorry for people struggling in the NZ economy and I can see why making the jump works for them, but it's got strong qualities of "you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone" -yes, Australia is a bigger more resilient economy overall by comparison but things can go pear shaped here fast too. I like NZ. I have family there. Some have made the jump back over here, some remain. I can believe I'd be happy there, and in that totally perverse outcome the Kiwi misfortune might mean more Australians my age moved over there, if inflation/deflation works out the right (wrong?) way. It's not likely right now, cost of living in NZ is a lot higher.

damnitbuilds

Sadly predictable that Jacinda Ardern, the moronic do-gooder architect of this, is also leaving NZ for Australia. She's yet another trendy lefty who has now discovered that fucking up your country's economy to "do good" does nobody any good. From 2019: " New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern criticized the tendency among countries to measure success by economic growth and gross domestic product at the 2019 Goalkeepers event on Wednesday, hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ardern said that governments should instead focus on the general welfare of citizens and make investments in areas that unlock human potential. She pointed to New Zealand's new well-being budget that seeks to expand mental health services, reduce child poverty and homelessness, promote Indigenous rights, fight climate change, and expand opportunities. "Economic growth accompanied by worsening social outcomes is not success," Ardern said. "It is failure." " https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/jacinda-ardern-goal...

roenxi

Bit of a tease, they don't explain why New Zealand are seeing an exodus in over-30s. I suspect there is an elephant in the room here that isn't being discussed. Particularly in that age range I doubt people are getting a sudden urge to adventure and excitement that they didn't feel in their 20s. These articles like to throw out random economic statistics as though they have explanatory power, but they really don't. What exactly are the policies at play here? > “Our wages are similar in Australia and employment law means longer probation periods, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons” It is just a minor point, but really. If a country has an employment problem, short probation periods are a terrible idea. To get employers to employ people the easiest strategy is to make it easy and safe for them to employ people. Let them hire and fire at will. What is it with people and this instinct to immediately make life harder for the only person willing to offer someone a job. If people are leaving the island and a contributing factor is they don't have jobs, make it easy to give them a job. Don't make it harder then do this mild surprise routine when they move somewhere where people can actually employ them.

DaedalusII

nz has no meaningful economy. they have a real estate market and agriculture which has maxed out its productivity, because they have completely run out of land. they have cheap, generally low quality colleges, and attract middle class/rich asians to live there for a few years and get a strong passport. they also have a big problem with alcoholism and domestic violence, and an absurdly complicated tax system. 15% first nations and 15% asian immigrants, the 70% euro population is skewed elderly and contributes most of the tax receipts, and that includes a lot of brit retirees the problem is they run the country like canada/norway/australia/alaska, except those places all have enormous resource exports that pay for the welfare state. nz just has milk farms the median salary is less than USD $50k, and these people can get the EB3 greencard or just move to EU/ Australia

osullip

That is not the title

haunter

Why are we editorializing titles again? Became more and more common on HN recently >… please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize.

barrenko

NZ could have the similar issue as the "developed" countries of the EU (/ + UK) that seem to operate under a very mistaken belief that it's possible to stay "developed" without also being "developing" all the time.

kinow

I think during the pandemic a lot of kiwis returned from overseas. Once it was over they slowly started migrating as the economy wasn't really good. I did the same also to stay close to my wife's family for a few years before returning. It is pretty common I'd say, not big news. And living here in Spain, apparently the exact same happens. Young people normally study and work here. Many choose an Erasmus program or find job that pay 2 or 3 times more, especially in Germany, The Netherlands, Poland. We find it really difficult to hire good developers, especially seniors. Juniors are not too hard.

DeathArrow

Most seem like hard working individuals aged 30+. So maybe the tax payers grew tired of the progressive taxes and subsidizing the welfare state and they seek places they think will be more fair to them.

morepork

This is not new, the article spins it as a big increase using a low during COVID as a baseline. Alternative article with stats back to 2001: https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/137340/current-exod... Note also that the population has grown around 30% since 2001, so the rate is probably lower than in the 2000s. NZ is a small country, cities are small, it can be expensive, and the job market is relatively limited. For some it's made up for by the abundance of nature, the laid back attitudes, etc. but that's never going to be everyone's cup of tea.

freefaler

It's mostly a no-brainer. Cost of living is higher than AU and wages are lower. Across the Tasman sea the market is 5 times bigger with real earning power around +30%. (but the weather is much more hot and from Brisbane up to the south the fauna tries to eat/sting/kill/bite you). Housing in Australia is still one of the worst thing about the country, but in NZ is not much better, may be even worse. So New Zealand will become like Switzerland of the Oceania. It's the most beautiful country in the world and the Southern Island is a magical place. Also, now it's less than 50% white, so it is a very diverse place, especially bigger cities like Auckland and Wellington. So in the bigger cities you can find a lot of good international food and culture too. I think from a HN prespective if you have an internet business and don't mind the time zone difference and you're earining enough, NZ iz a fantastic place that is safe, clean, first world country, diverse and super beautiful, outdoor lover's paradise.