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Thread: Pros and cons for a young family in NZ

  1. #1
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    Default Pros and cons for a young family in NZ

    My son and his wife are in their mid-30's with three kiddos, ages 2, 9 and 11.
    Son was born in the U.S. and has NZ citizenship by right of descent. His wife is American as are all 3 kids.

    They are trying to decide where to move to. The primary reason for relocating is quality of education for the kids. They live in a state that is ranked among the lowest in the U.S. for quality of education. They're considering Austin, Texas, L.A. area of California, New Zealand or Australia. According to this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datab...cience-reading
    New Zealand is much higher on the list than the U.S. and the University of Auckland ranks in the top 100 universities in the world.

    I'm elated that they're considering NZ!


    (I think the blue banana is sacred and only used when someone is granted PR but in my case - this deserves a blue banana....in fact, it deserve a couple more!

    Son is an illustrator and can continue to do the same work for the same clients no matter where he's living. DIL is a teacher but would like to go back to university.

    I've given my son a list of the negatives:

    Higher cost of food
    Expensive for DIL to visit family in the U.S
    Higher cost of furniture, etc.
    Colder houses (according to some of you here!)

    Positives:
    Cost of health care
    Free dental for kids
    Better education
    University education much less expensive
    Access to beaches, etc.
    Safer place for kids
    Having US/NZ citizenship will open up more opportunities for the kids when they're older.

    I'm hoping that those of you with kids can contribute pros and cons. Especially hoping to hear from families who've made the move from the U.S. to NZ.

    Thank you!!
    Last edited by Dell; 16th June 2011 at 12:55 PM.

  2. #2
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    Hi Dell,
    We are still in the US - in the process of coming (hopefully) to NZ. We have 2 kids -12 and 9.
    Let me add some of the reasons( in no particular order) we are choosing to leave the US...
    1.Safety/Gun control - Middle school shooting next town over from us - one 13 yr old shot another - not fatefully thank goodness. We are in the Midwest - not your stereotypical big crime ridden city. There will never be real gun control in this country. "Unconstitutional" and the NRA are way too powerful.
    2. Health Care - Huge deal in our minds. Regardless of insurance or not - it is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the US!! disgusting in my humble opinion. Again personal opinion but Health Insurance companies and the large pharmaceutical companies have way too much power - health insurance for all doesn't stand a chance.
    3. Economy - land of the rich getting richer, bigger divide between the have's and the have not's. Greed and convenience in spite of the common good/environment.
    Feel like we are riding the "Financial Titanic".
    4. Education - huge cutbacks, falling standards - have your family check out the international countries rankings - pretty sad. OH is secondary school science teacher so we have frontline experience with this. Families with money will send kids to private schools, state schools being gutted. Again the divide. Lots of kids will be falling through the gaps - so what does that do to the communities we live in?
    5. Politics - need I say anything?
    6. We think NZ offers kids the chance to be kids for longer, less commercialization, less brand awareness, more outdoors time, better quality of life and appreciation of what life is about - quality of life, family time. Rather than collecting "stuff".
    7. Its Beautiful!! Mountains, beaches, less extreme climates. EQ excluded
    8. Litigation! - love the Accident insurance thing! over here - just Sue if you get hurt! regardless of whether its your fault or not!
    9. No Palin - Ok had to throw 1 little political thing in - sorry!
    Anyway Dell - just my thoughts - all my own opinion - I am quite sure there may be some disagreement on some of my comments. Trouble is - America is so vast, that all experiences are not going to be exactly the same but some of my points I would argue for the country as a whole.
    Good luck persuading your son I know how tough a decision it is for them, but our children's future is truly what is driving us. (Plus the mountains for ski-ing!!)

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dell View Post
    the University of Auckland ranks in the top 100 universities in the world.
    http://www.timeshighereducation.co.u...1/top-200.html

    U of Auckland using this in their marketing is kind of sad. My alma mater is about 30 places higher, and is not considered particulary prestigious.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by 72andsunny View Post
    http://www.timeshighereducation.co.u...1/top-200.html

    U of Auckland using this in their marketing is kind of sad. My alma mater is about 30 places higher, and is not considered particulary prestigious.

    According to that link, they aren't even in the top 100. Yup, and same about my uni, higher on the list, and I've never heard them use that ranking...

    Daniela

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adventurefamily View Post
    3. Economy - land of the rich getting richer, bigger divide between the have's and the have not's. Greed and convenience in spite of the common good/environment.
    Feel like we are riding the "Financial Titanic".
    This is reason alone in my book to get out of the US while you can. There will never be a true recovery in the US. The standard of living for the average person/family is only going to drop over the next several decades in the US. The financial turmoil in the US is only getting started and will not end soon or pleasantly.

    While NZ may have its own economic issues just like anywhere, they are sitting pretty good relatively speaking.

    The rising NZ dollar as resulted in a lot of prices going down for some imported items. For example he have a pretty basic 27" TV that we bought about 1.5 year ago. Yesterday, I saw an ad for a 42" HD plasma TV for the same price we paid for ours originally. This sort of thing does not hold true for everything, but I have noticed it in a few types of products.
    Last edited by TJH; 16th June 2011 at 07:24 PM.

  6. #6
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    NZ consumers have hardly benefited from the high NZ dollar, petrol maybe but little else, and that's hardly good news continuing to increase the reliance on it.

    Electrical goods, tvs and pcs etc. have generally gone down due to increased innovation.

  7. #7
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    @Adventure family...I could have written your list. We think alike.

    @dharder:
    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/univers...top-100-112744

    http://www.university-list.net/rank.htm

    UCLA and University of AKL are on the same lists. Son and DIL could stay in the U.S. and send their kids to UCLA. US$ 12,000 for tuition alone or move to NZ and send kids to University of Auckland for about US$ 4200. They're got three bright kids who will go to university. By the time you pay for the cost of health insurance and health costs not covered by the deductible (excess) who has money for tuition??

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dell View Post
    That list is from 2009, the one where Auckland doesn't feature in the Top 100 is from 2010 (both Times Higher Education).

    But I won't argue list places, not a measurement that would be very high on my list of reasons to move anywhere.

    I think that possibly, if I had the choice to raise my children in the US or in NZ, I wouls chose the latter. Health Care would be at the top of my list.

    Daniela

  9. #9
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    The reason UOA use it and its top 200 is to compete with OZ and Pacific universities which are far better funded it also drwas in substatial revenue re research this is a small country and I think is an achievement as like lots of industries to try and compete you need to attract the best staff and being in the top 200 list helps!

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dell View Post

    They are trying to decide where to move to. The primary reason for relocating is quality of education for the kids. They live in a state that is ranked among the lowest in the U.S. for quality of education. They're considering Austin, Texas, L.A. area of California, New Zealand or Australia. According to this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datab...cience-reading
    New Zealand is much higher on the list than the U.S. and the University of Auckland ranks in the top 100 universities in the world.

    I'm elated that they're considering NZ!

    I've given my son a list of the negatives:

    Higher cost of food
    Expensive for DIL to visit family in the U.S
    Higher cost of furniture, etc.
    Colder houses (according to some of you here!)

    Positives:
    Cost of health care
    Free dental for kids
    Better education
    University education much less expensive
    Access to beaches, etc.
    Safer place for kids
    Having US/NZ citizenship will open up more opportunities for the kids when they're older.
    Dell, we live in CA and the reason we want to leave is that it is such a rat race here. WE are tired of working all the time, and spending the money to send our boys to private school, because our school district isn't good. We too want to let our kids be kids for longer, and hopefully spend some quality time with their Papa and Nana.

    As for furniture, if they decide to ship a container over, they can buy their furniture ahead of time at IKEA or wherever else they choose. Or we have found some great deals for furniture, cars etc. on Trademe.co.nz. So, I think there are reasonable deals out there if you spend the time looking.

    I am definitely not concerned about the colder houses, but that can be an issue. We live outside of SF, CA and we don't have central heat and our house is drafty and always cold. It was built in 1925 so I can't expect much. But we just bundle up and put on a fire in the wintertime etc. We also bought oil column heaters for our bedrooms, which helps a ton. And they can always buy heat pumps, we have looked up those and they aren't that expensive at all.

    And there is always skype for keeping in touch with family and friends if flights are too expensive.
    Good luck.

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