An alternative measure of social wellbeing: analysing the key conceptual and statistical components of quality of life

Statisticians, policy makers and social researchers widely accept that there is a need to consider a more nuanced range of measures of quality of life that move beyond the economic domain and that take into account key aspects of an individual's life circumstances. Using data from an Australian household survey, a composite Wellbeing Index was created that covered objective circumstances, with known associations to wellbeing, evaluated from the individual's subjective viewpoint. The robustness of the measure comes from the fact that while covering a broad range of key dimensions, the index only includes the items deemed important components of wellbeing by a majority of respondents. The index was then used to explore the extent to which wellbeing is associated with other dimensions of quality of life that have currency in the contemporary literature. The study contributes to the contemporary debate on social wellbeing and adds new Australian evidence to a body of research that has been mainly based on European and American data.     

New Zealand’s engagement with the Five Ways to Wellbeing: evidence from a large cross-sectional survey

ABSTRACT

The Five Ways to Wellbeing were developed in 2008 as a set of simple daily practices for individuals to improve their wellbeing. While there is some evidence to support the association between individual practices and wellbeing, it is unknown whether engaging in multiple practices – and in certain combinations – is associated with higher levels of wellbeing. A survey was undertaken with 10,012 adults throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand, to assess individual wellbeing and participation in the Five Ways to Wellbeing (Connect, Give, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Be Active). Wellbeing was assessed with the Flourishing Scale (Md?=?46, IQR 39–49). Three objectives explored the cross-sectional association between the Five ways to Wellbeing and wellbeing: (1) multiple wellbeing practices and wellbeing, (2) clustering of multiple wellbeing practices, and (3) wellbeing practices as predictors of wellbeing. Results show that levels of wellbeing increased with each additional practice (rho?=?.53, p?<?.001), regardless of the combination. However, the most important predictors of wellbeing were Keep Learning (β?=?.23, p?<?.001) and Take Notice (β?=?.22, p?<?.001). Studies investigating ways to increase participation in the Five Ways to Wellbeing are warranted to promote wellbeing in Aotearoa.     

Talking about citizenship in New Zealand

Abstract

This paper fleshes out the rather sparse empirical literature on citizenship with data collected from seven focus groups involving a wide range of New Zealanders. Results indicate that the term “citizenship” is relatively unimportant to identity and belonging compared to “family” and “community”. Yet there is considerable agreement about the key elements of citizenship and what makes a “good citizen”. Knowledge about citizenship, however, is not evenly distributed or experienced in the same way by different groups of New Zealanders, with Maori participants offering notably more negative perspectives on citizenship, and benefit recipients most likely to feel like “second‐class citizens”. Against predictions, the findings further suggest that neo‐liberal reforms have not eliminated a belief in community spirit and collective solutions to social problems. Although New Zealanders do believe that individuals should be responsible for themselves, they also expect government to ensure the social and economic conditions that make this possible.     

Student debt and wellbeing: a research agenda

ABSTRACT

With levels of student debt unprecedented and rising in many democracies, growing attention has been given by academics and practitioners to its possible effects for student wellbeing. This article makes three contributions to this debate. First, it offers a critical review of literature that considers the relationship of student debt and wellbeing to open up discussion about the dimensions, limitations and possibilities of the field. Second, the paper points to potential avenues for future research about student debt and wellbeing by considering indicative comments made by New Zealand university students as part of a series of in-depth interviews. Third, the article makes a practical contribution to current debates about the tuition ‘fees free’ policy in New Zealand. We argue that developing a more robust understanding of how student debt affects wellbeing may help to broaden and reinvigorate academic and public debate about student debt.     

Weaving cohesive identities: New Zealand women talk as mothers and workers

Abstract

This exploratory study examines the discourses which construct women as mothers and workers and explores the strategies the women use to weave these sometimes contradictory identities together. Discourse analysis was used to explore the talk of two focus groups of first‐time mothers, all New Zealanders of European descent in stable heterosexual partnerships with babies aged less than six months. The women deployed an intensive mother discourse which privileged their maternal role and positioned the babies as needing parental care and mothers as the natural providers of that care. However, they also felt the pressure of successful woman and economic rationalist discourses in which paid work is essential to wellbeing and good citizenship while motherhood is devalued. The women's decisions about re‐entering the paid workforce were characterised by conflict and constraint. The analysis focuses on the strategies of resistance that the women used to warrant their life choices, including constructing motherhood as a job, and deploying an independent mother discourse which serves to facilitate their striving for the best of both worlds. Also explored are some of the structural barriers that serve to further limit women's choices.     

Maori and the New Zealand values survey: The importance of research relationships

Abstract

Requirements for non‐Maori researchers to consult with Maori compete with “by Maori for Maori” research agendas. Nevertheless, Maori provide varying forms of consultation, with Maori perspectives rarely being entered into the literature. Following an invitation from the Centre for Social Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation (SHORE), members of the Whariki Research Group agreed to take a consultative role, providing Maori input into the New Zealand Values Survey 2004. After initial examination of the survey instrument and follow‐up on previous consultation with Maori, Whariki's main role focused on questions relevant to the Treaty of Waitangi (signed in 1840 between the United Kingdom and Maori) and to Maori. The questions and related findings were of particular salience in the context of ongoing controversy and challenges to the status of the Treaty in New Zealand and to the position of Maori. Here we describe research processes and relationships and present the findings with reference to their social and political implications.     

Book review

New Zealand and the European Union edited by Matthew Gibbons. Auckland, Pearson Education. 2008. 172 p. NZ$52.99 (paperback). ISBN 0733993831.

Going bush. New Zealanders and nature in the twentieth century by Kirstie Ross. Auckland, Auckland University Press. 2008. 200 p. NZ$34.99 (paperback). ISBN 1869404246.

Globalisation and the wealth of nations by Brian Easton. Auckland, Auckland University Press. 2007. 248 p. NZ$50.00 (paperback). ISBN 9781869403775.     

New Zealanders returning from overseas: how their experiences of xenophobia could help us respond to superdiversity

ABSTRACT

This article draws on qualitative interview data with 42 New Zealanders returning to New Zealand after living overseas, finding they feel more like a ‘migrant’ than someone coming ‘home’. This is in part because New Zealand people and institutions demonstrate an intolerance to difference, theorised here as a form of xenophobia that inhibits the economic, social and political integration of participants. However, the same experiences and ideas that lead many New Zealanders to frame returnees as an ‘out-group’ can be regarded as a national resource. The article concludes that we should embrace – not ignore or disparage – returnees' awareness of integration issues, transnational networks and cross-cultural experiences as we attempt to maintain social cohesion in an increasingly superdiverse world.     

Rising food security concerns among New Zealand adolescents and association with health and wellbeing

The current paper explores recent changes in food insecurity among adolescents and determine if food security concerns are associated with poorer wellbeing. Data were collected as part of two nationally representative surveys of the health and wellbeing of high-school students in New Zealand in 2007 and 2012. In 2012, 11% of young people reported food security concerns often or always, with 33% reporting food security concerns occasionally/sometimes. The prevalence of food security concerns at both frequencies increased significantly from 2007 (8% and 28%, respectively). Young people with food security concerns were more likely to report poor indicators of health and wellbeing, including truancy, poor general health, mental health concerns and obesity. Our findings highlight the growing concerns of food insecurity reported by adolescents in New Zealand. Interventions that address food security for families may provide a tangible means of promoting the healthy development of children and young people.     

Changing policy,changing attitudes? Public opinion on employment relations in New Zealand, 1990–2008

Abstract

Did significant policy shifts in employment relations in the 1990s lead to equally large changes in the attitudes of New Zealanders towards employment relations? Have policy modifications made since 1999 further shaped public perceptions? This paper explores the role of policy feedback in influencing public opinion towards employers and unions and towards government responsibility for jobs and wages. Using data from New Zealand public opinion surveys, most notably the New Zealand Election Study (1990–2008), the paper finds some evidence that policy feedback has occurred in the employment relations arena, but the impact is not as strong or consistent as we might expect. As such, New Zealanders do not completely endorse the ‘there is no alternative’ arguments of neoliberalism, but they do not have an overwhelming desire to return to Keynesian demand-management employment policies.     

Maori family culture: A context of youth development in Counties/Manukau

Abstract

This paper has two main objectives. First, it examines the ways in which the Waitangi Tribunal considers the notion of “time” (and its corollary “timelessness") in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi. The Tribunal has increasingly emphasised the timeless‐ness of the Treaty, its ability to transcend temporal notions of time, and the implications of this for the relationship between the Treaty partners, Maori and the Crown. Second, it compares these tendencies with contemporary Maori ideas of time, as they are presented in the modern Treaty claims process. It is argued that the Tribunal, especially in its more recent reports, has signalled a marked shift in its acknowledgment of Maori concepts of time. Its published reports from 1999 onwards show more appreciation not for only for Maori understandings of the Treaty relationship, but for Maori values and concepts which, by their articulation and inclusion in the hearing process, test orthodox and dominant assumptions regarding the nature of change over time. Some broader trends may also be observed. Since the 1980s, there have been numerous references to the Treaty and its principles in statutory law, Waitangi Tribunal reports, and Deeds of Settlement ratified by successive New Zealand governments. Furthermore, there has been increasing (but by no means universal) recognition of the Treaty as a “developing social contract”, rather than a static historical document, with much of the impetus for such an interpretation coming from findings and recommendations of the Waitangi Tribunal.     

Emerging needs,evolving services: The health of Pacific peoples in New Zealand

Abstract

From 0.1% of the total population in 1945 to 6.9% in 2006, Pacific peoples now resident in New Zealand highlight significant health policy and service delivery issues within an increasingly diverse society. Over the last decade, marked differences in the health status of Pacific New Zealanders and Palagi New Zealanders have been well documented, showing high levels of disparity and continuing negative trends. This paper provides a broad overview of the history of Pacific health and health initiatives in New Zealand from the 1940s through to the mid 2000s, highlighting the interface between Pacific peoples and the New Zealand health sector. While the New Zealand Government has become increasingly responsive to Pacific health needs, significant disparities remain between Pacific and Palagi populations. Furthermore, many of the encouraging health initiatives introduced in the past decade remain at risk due to a variety of factors, including a need to strengthen the Pacific health workforce and management expertise.     

Socioeconomic hardship,uncertainty about the future,and adolescent mental wellbeing over a year during the COVID-19 pandemic

Socioeconomic vulnerabilities put adolescents at risk for mental wellbeing issues, also in times of a pandemic. In the present longitudinal online survey study, we explored changes in mental wellbeing (i.e., mood and life satisfaction) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, we examined how socioeconomic hardship in online home schooling predicted adolescents’ mental wellbeing 1 year later. Third, we tested whether this relation was mediated by feelings of uncertainty about the future. Fourth, we tested whether this relation was moderated (in terms of a protective factor) by self-efficacy. In total, 177 Dutch-speaking adolescents aged 10–18 years (M_age = 15.64, SD_age = 1.72, 79% females) participated in all three 6-month separated waves (T1 = May 2020, T2 = November 2020, and T3 = May 2021). Mood results demonstrated that feelings of vigor decreased between T1 and T2, and feelings of tension and depression increased between T1, T2, and T3. Socioeconomic hardship in online home schooling in the early phase of the pandemic was negatively associated with both baseline mental wellbeing and 1 year later. Socioeconomic hardship at T1 predicted higher feelings of future uncertainty at T2, and higher levels of future uncertainty were associated with lower feelings of vigor, and higher feelings of tension and depression at T3. However, we found no evidence for mediation or moderation effects. In conclusion, the present findings illustrate the complexity of disentangling the adverse effects of socioeconomic hardship on adolescent mental wellbeing.     

Self‐assessed consequences of unemployment on individual wellbeing and family relationships: A study of unemployed women and men in Finland

Weckström S. Self‐assessed consequences of unemployment on individual wellbeing and family relationships: a study of unemployed women and men in Finland The present study investigated how family situation and gender affect the experience of unemployment. The sample consisted of 494 Finnish women and 387 Finnish men who had been registered as unemployed for at least 3 months. The main method used in the study was analysis of covariance. Women assessed the consequences of unemployment on their individual wellbeing and on the parent–child relationship less negatively than men, but there was no corresponding gender difference concerning spousal relationship. Lone mothers experienced the change in individual wellbeing slightly more negatively than women in other family situations; this difference was in part related to financial strain. Financial strain and non‐financial work motivation predicted negative changes in individual wellbeing and in spousal relationship for both genders. Parent–child relationships were, however, independent from these variables. The way family relationships were affected was connected to changes in individual wellbeing.     

The geography of deprivation in New Zealand by electorate

ABSTRACT

In the run-up to the 2017 General Election, the economy, housing, health, education, inequality and justice were important policy issues. General Elections are a time when voters exercise their democratic right to vote for their preferred party and parliamentary candidate to represent themselves, their whānau and community. In many cases, political parties’ policies seek to improve the wellbeing of people who are living in more deprived communities, but people in deprived communities are typically less likely to vote. The recently released New Zealand Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) enables users to explore deprivation in electorates across the country. This paper compares the distribution of deprivation and voter turnout across a selection of General Electoral Districts (GEDs) and demonstrates that while overall patterns of deprivation may be similar between GEDs, the drivers of these patterns can differ immensely.     

Young Maori perceptions of a youth development programme

Abstract

Project K is a youth development programme that targets young people aged 14–15 years with low self-efficacy. It is run by the Foundation for Youth Development. Story-telling style interviews that asked participants to imagine themselves in a reality television show with different ‘episodes’ were conducted with six Maori Project K participants on the effectiveness of the programme and if and how it works with Maori ‘as Maori’. Results suggested the programme used graded mastery, team work and fun to produce positive outcomes. It also had high expectations of participants, coupled with intense support. Participants described the programme as not particularly attending to them ‘as Maori’, which they generally viewed positively. A workshop was held with key programme staff to analyse the results and formulate an action plan to address areas for improvement. Implications for other programmes that involve indigenous youth are outlined.     

HINE-TITAMA: MAORI CONTRIBUTIONS TO FEMINIST DISCOURSES AND IDENTITY POLITICS

‘Post-colonial criticism bears witness to the unequal and uneven forces of cultural representation involved in the contest for political and social authority within the modern world order’. (Homi Bhabha 1994, p. 171) Feminist discourses attend to the experiences of women in many social spheres, including that of the artworld. In this paper I, as a Maori woman, offer an outline of Postcolonial Maori Feminism that complies with the cultural theorist Homi Bhabha's notion of ‘Post-colonial criticism’. The connection between feminist discourse and the accomplished Maori artist Robyn Kahukiwa has not been strongly emphasised in current published literature. The cultural context that Robyn Kahukiwa refers to in her art is, primarily, that of Maori women. I argue, by using one exemplary picture entitled Hine-Titama, that Robyn Kahukiwa and her artwork align with the work of some other Maori feminists. I also posit an association between Kahukiwa and some examples of ‘non-Maori’ feminist writing that furthers our understanding of cultural identities based on gender and race. I refer to those cultural identities as they relate to Maori women in New Zealand.     

Trust, risk and control within an indigenous–non-indigenous social service partnership

Partnerships between organisations are seen as one of the building blocks of the 'third way' approach to welfare provision in both Europe and New Zealand. While there is much discussion on building social capital and partnership working, such partnerships are usually perceived as being between government and community or private organisations. There is a gap in the literature in two specific areas: partnerships formed between two community-based social service organisations and partnerships formed between indigenous, or immigrant peoples, and non-indigenous organisations. This article explores such a partnership – that between the Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre (an indigenous organisation) and the Dunedin Community Law Centre (a non-indigenous organisation). The article analyses this relationship and strategies employed by both organisations to develop trust, diminish risk and equalise control. Lastly, the article suggests that the model of interaction articulated here could be promulgated to other sites within the social services in New Zealand and the Americas, and within the European context.     

‘It’s who we are’: eco-nationalism and place in contesting deep-sea oil in Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Given near consensus among the scientific community about the anthropogenic nature of climate change, there is pressing concern about how to mobilise enough people to care and demand wider socio-political change. In this article we explore this urgent issue, drawing on recent conflicts over deep-sea oil exploration and drilling in Aotearoa New Zealand. We explore how some activist groups are attempting to mobilise care and concern around deep-sea oil drilling and climate change through the use of narratives that entwine aspects of national identity with the non-human world. We suggest that these activist groups are not concerned about a retreat of the state, but rather, are in direct conflict with the state, and state interventionism, over fossil fuel development trajectories in Aotearoa New Zealand. In drawing upon eco-nationalism, and particularly a way of life related to place, activists have called into question the common sense of business as usual and thereby sought to expand space for ‘ordinary’ Aotearoa New Zealanders to care about climate change.     

Children living with their grandparents: resilience and wellbeing

Downie JM, Hay DA, Horner BJ, Wichmann H, Hislop AL. Children living with their grandparents: resilience and wellbeing
Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 8–22 © 2009 Curtin University of Technology, Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. A non‐comparative design and mixed‐methods approach was used to examine the resilience and wellbeing of 20 children in the full‐time care of their grandparents. A self‐report measure of self‐concept and emotional wellbeing, and a semi‐structured interview were used to explore the personal experiences and impact of children living with their grandparents. Scores derived from the self‐report measure indicated that the children's self‐worth and emotional health were within the range expected of children of comparative age and sex. Qualitative data, however, suggested a complex emotional environment and a continuum of responses. Analysis revealed three themes that captured broad issues around Emotional health, Material factors, Current issues and Past experiences and Coping strategies. The results of the study reveal the ongoing concerns associated with the children's family circumstances, as well as the notable adaptation and resilience of the children in managing their life experiences.