Most Kiwis say they’re ‘not prospering’: Retirement Commission data

Thursday, 31 July 2025

New Zealand has flipped from being a country in which more than half of people felt they were getting ahead financially, to one where the majority either felt they were just treading water, or actually sinking.

The taxpayer-funded Retirement Commission Te Ara Ahunga Ora published its latest tranche of financial sentiment tracking data today, showing 44% of the population felt they had moved ahead financially in the 12 months to the end of June, while 56% were either treading water, or sinking.

That compared with 51% of people feeling they had got ahead in the same period three years earlier when unemployment was lower.

The point at which New Zealand moved from being a country in which the majority of people reported they were prospering, to one where more people reported they were not getting ahead, didn’t come under the current government however, the commission’s data shows. It happened under the Labour-led government in the 12 months to the end of July 2023 when inflation was peaking at just over 7%.

But the Retirement Commission data did show women, who on average earn less than men, reporting worsening financial positions at a significantly elevated rate compared with men under the current Government.

Sentiment surveying was done in each of the past four quarters. On average over those four surveys, 38% of women told the commission’s researchers they had got ahead in the previous 12 months, compared to 49% of men.

But it was a worsening trend for women. In the latest quarterly survey covering the April/May/June quarter, just 36% of women said they had got ahead in the previous 12 months, compared with 51% of men.

That was the widest gender gap since the sentiment tracking began in late 2021, the commission said.

Individuals’ finances are often closely tied to those of a life partner, but the commission’s data indicated that women’s average perceptions of whether they were sinking, swimming, or treading water were more negative than men’s, even if they were in households bringing in the same income.

The commission’s survey showed levels of men’s and women’s financial comfort was similar in households with incomes of $150,000 or more, but below that women self-reported higher levels of financial discomfort than men, even at the same income levels.

Women also reported higher levels of financial stress and discomfort with debt than men from households on similar incomes.

The commission did not drill down into what accounted for the gender differences in households of similar income, however it believes there could be a combination of factors at work, including the particular circumstances of some women within households.

Tom Hartmann, Sorted Personal Finance Lead, said factors could include gender cognitive biases, such as differing attitudes towards financial risk between men and women, and also differences in financial optimism.

However, Hartmann said: “There is a risk of generalising here.”

Research has also indicated that in many households women carry what economist Marilyn Waring terms the “cognitive load” of households, taking responsibility for forward planning, children’s healthcare and education, balancing the household budget, and other stressful planning tasks.

Research in 2021 by the commission found women were more likely to budget than men, and scored higher in day-today money management.

Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the commission’s sentiment data was “disturbing, but not surprising”.

“The Government has embarked on a war on women at every turn, including miserable increases to the minimum wage and the cancelling of pay equity claims,” she said.

“150,000 women had wages stolen from them when the Government cancelled pay equity claims, including care and support workers, many of whom are back on the minimum wage, all while the cost of living keeps going up,” she said.

When Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden announced the pay equity law changes in May, she said they would make the pay equity regime more workable and sustainable, saving the taxpayer billions of dollars.

Fitzsimons said: “Women in New Zealand still carry more caring responsibility and have greater need for part time work. Part time work is lower paid, and the amount of part time work available has been dropping.”

Māori and Pacific people also reported lower financial comfort levels than non-Māori, and while the gap had widened since the change of government in late 2023, the commission’s figures showed the 12-month average was still lower than it had been in June 2022 under the last Labour/Green government.

The commission’s sentiment data is the second set of money statistics this week to put a spotlight on the struggles of households.

On Tuesday, Kiwibank released data suggesting 48% of people had dipped into long-term savings to pay for immediate spending needs in the past 12 months.

The Government is banking on economic growth turning the tide on household financial sentiment.

At the end of June, when the commission was finalising its last round of sentiment testing, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said: “I know many households and businesses are still doing it tough, but the steps the Government has taken to stop wasteful spending, grow the economy and provide more support to households are paying dividends.”

She pointed to modest increase in per capita GDP in the first three months of the year, which she said was the second consecutive quarter of growth after eight quarters of negative or no growth.

“Inflation is down, interest rates are down, and many families have a little more money in their pockets,” she said.