BERL Chief Economist Dr Ganesh Nana was last night featured on TVNZ documentary series ‘Use as Directed’ – a user’s guide to the modern world. The episode investigated the cost of raising a child in New Zealand and compared the costs associated with newborn babies, five year olds and teenagers, with the latter found to be the most expensive.
Every year there are 60,000 new consumers born in New Zealand and a recent study conducted by the Inland Revenue Department concluded that the average cost of raising a single child until the age of 18 in New Zealand, is approximately a quarter of a million dollars, or about $280 a week. As this is an average figure this means some parents are spending substantially more than that per child.
Questioned whether one would have children based on Economics, Ganesh believes that “if you looked at the cost then there would be no kids in the world, and that would really be a miserable world”. Dr Nana shares his thoughts on the subject from the perspective of both a father and an economist and believes that when considering the cost of raising children—particularly in relation to health and education--we should not focus on saving costs, but rather how to get the best value from what we spend. To view the documentary in full, click here.
The question of an ageing population
26 August, 2010
At the recent Conference on Retirement Income Policy and Intergenerational Equity BERL Chief Economist Dr Ganesh Nana questioned the Treasury presentation of the fiscal impacts of New Zealand’s ageing population. Dr Nana queried the use of conservative participation rate assumptions, as well as the assumption that all those aged 65 and over could be classified as ‘dependents’.
BERL wishes to congratulate Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) on its highly successful conference, which was held in Auckland from the 26th to the 28th of July. The conference brought together all of the key decision makers in Local Government.
BERL Is especially pleased to have sponsored this year's event which focussed on building prosperous places. As part of the conference, BERL facilitated a workshop on economic development, which introduced of the BERL Local Government Economic Indicators Framework. The framework explores the contribution local government makes to economic growth and development in New Zealand using two reference points- areas where local government contributes to economic development, and where it contributes to the Government's Economic Growth Agenda.
Dr Ganesh Nana's presentation on the report is available for download here.
Vital Statistics
Latest News
BERL Graphs
GDP
(avg growth, year to Mar 10)
-0.4%
CPI
(Jun 10 increase on Jun 09)
1.8%
Current account balance
(year to Mar 10, % of GDP)
-2.4%
Unemployment
(Jun 10)
6.8%
Employment
(Jun 10 change on Jun 09)
-0.1%
14 Jan - The number of new homes authorised for construction (excluding apartments) rose 3.1% in November 2009. This follows an 11% rise in October 2009 and brings the number of housing units authorised to its highest level since May 2008. The value of residential building consents was $537m, an increase of 18% compared with November 2008.
12 Jan - New Zealand house values rose 2.8% over 2009. The average sales price also rose to $404,671, according to QV.
8 Jan - New Zealand is the 5th best place in the world to live according to International Living's Quality of Life Index.
7 Jan - The November 2009 trade balance was a deficit of $269m or 8.8% of exports. This compares with an average November deficit of 27.6% of exports for the previous five years.
The New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (NZVCC) have engaged BERL to quantify the demand for and supply of academic staff between 2008 and 2020.
BERL Projects
Since setting up a professional consulting and research operation in 1970, BERL has undertaken a variety of projects for a range of clients. Please feel free to look at the summaries of a selection of our work from the last few years. If you have any queries on these or other projects we have undertaken please contact us.
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