The Treasury has released its first big picture report on wellbeing in New Zealand, which it is now required to do every four years under the Public Finance (Wellbeing) Amendment Act.
Treasury Secretary Caralee McLiesh said it established an evidence base which can help to understand the trends, distribution and sustainability of wellbeing, and inform the Treasury's advice to the Government of the day on what needs prioritising.
Its purpose is not to replace more traditional indicators of progress, such as economic growth, but rather to provide a broad, long-term perspective on how the country is faring, without suggesting specific solutions to these complex issues.
The report draws on the dual frameworks of the Treasury's Living Standards and He Ara Waiora, a lens intended to help the Treasury understand waiora, often translated as a Māori perspective on wellbeing.
"Overall, the report tells us that we are healthier, better off and safer than previous generations," Dr McLiesh said.
"Compared to many other developed countries, New Zealand is a good place to live. For example we rate above the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average for life satisfaction, coming in ahead of countries like Australia and the UK and just behind Denmark and Switzerland.
"However, there are areas where we do not perform as well as other developed nations, areas where we are doing worse over time and there are differences in wellbeing within Aotearoa New Zealand."
One striking discrepancy is in the wellbeing between older and younger New Zealanders. Young people are more stressed, less wealthy, and less likely to own a home.
Although many New Zealanders might report low wellbeing in one area of life and high wellbeing in others, chief economic adviser Dominick Stephens said some groups fare poorly in many measures of wellbeing.
"Five to ten percent of us face persistent low wellbeing on a number of fronts. People with disabilities, people living in sole parent families, Māori and Pacific people are disproportionately represented in this group.
"Te Tai Waiora considers Māori wellbeing from a Māori perspective. Māori wellbeing has been improving in many ways, but gaps between Māori and the broader population remain."
The Treasury's report found many of our young Māori and Pacific peoples are not in employment, education or training, with Māori most commonly facing discrimination at school and work. Both groups tend to experience disproportionately more psychologically distress.
It also recognised several future risks to wellbeing, which include climate change, biodiversity loss, increasing geopolitical instability, and the country's relatively high exposure to natural disasters.
"The unpredictable nature of many of these risks highlights the importance of building our resilience in a way that is flexible to many different risks and managing our resources in a way that provides buffers against future shocks," Dr McLiesh said.
"Te Tai Waiora also highlights the critical importance of lifting productivity to improve living standards and wellbeing ... compared with other developed countries our productivity rates have been persistently poor."
According to Dominick Stephens, "climate change is perhaps the biggest risk facing us. Society will need to adapt to a warmer world and to emitting less greenhouse gasses. Our ability to sustain wellbeing through this transition will depend on social choices, technology and productivity."
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