Prospects for the young

[kiwilud]

I'm having some trouble persuading my partner that a move to New Zealand would be good for us as a family and individually for our two teenage sons. We both agree though that the prospects for young people growing up in England are bleak. The news this week reported on the average £23,000 that parents are spending to hep get their offspring on the property ladder, those lucky enough to get a car at a young age face insurance costs in their thousands and for those clever enough to get to University there is the prospect of a lifetime of debts and no guarantee of a job that makes use of the degree gained.

So, honest feedback from those of you with young adults, how does it shape up for them over there? Is there a sense of optimism amongst the young or are these sort of difficulties pretty much universal?

[kiwieagle]

I can't offer you a comparison with England but I can tell you that those same concerns are prevalent ones here.

[IanW99]

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The news this week reported on the average £23,000 that parents are spending to hep get their offspring on the property ladder, those lucky enough to get a car at a young age face insurance costs in their thousands and for those clever enough to get to University there is the prospect of a lifetime of debts and no guarantee of a job that makes use of the degree gained.
...

Two of the points that you raise are probably just as bad as the UK, house prices are currently very unaffordable if you want to live in one of the big cities, the government is trying to address this issue so it may not be quite as bad by the time your kids need their own home but who can say. As you will be resident then University fees will be for domestic students and not too bad but still likely to have a large debt by the end, you would have to see costs and how they are managed to see if they are better or worse than the UK.

Car insurance isn't compulsory in NZ but of course recommended and even if you do get it, it is still considerably cheaper than in the UK and petrol is also, however second hand cars are much more expensive.

Regarding University, you should already be aware that if you leave the UK then you will lose the ability to send your children back to the UK for University and pay domestic rates, so if you have a favoured establishment or course and NZ doesn't offer something as good this may be very important.

Personally it was the best decision that we made for our teenage boys, only wish it was done sooner.

Ian