New Zealand is a more caring society than Australia and Britain, and Kiwis are prepared to pay more tax to help those in
need, according to a Reader’s Digest poll presented by Father Des Britten at the Wellington City Mission today.
“According to similar Reader’s Digest surveys carried out in Australia and Britain, New Zealanders are more likely to
work as volunteers, more likely to take part in a fund raising event and more likely to chat to lonely people,” says
Father Britten.
Over 80 percent of New Zealanders say they would pay more tax - $5.90 a week on average - to help those in need,
especially the elderly, the physically disabled and the mentally ill.
However, nearly half of all adults polled believe we have become less caring in the last ten years. Yet during the past
six months more than 80 percent of us have given to charity and 98 percent claim to have performed some act of kindness
for people outside our families.
The results come as no surprise to Father Des Britten, who says that New Zealanders have always been prepared to pitch
in.
“The City Mission exists on donations and the dedication of volunteers. The organisation has been around nearly 100
years and during that period there have been some very tough times. But the organisation has always managed to garner
most of the support needed to carry out the work of the City Mission – of course we would like to do more.
“The popular perception is that Christmas is a time for families, and that young people party hard and have a great
life-style. The reality is often quite different. Loneliness is an issue for all ages and we see it come to the fore at
Christmas,” said Father Britten.
The poll found that five percent of people had spent Christmas alone and that 54 percent of 18 – 24 years olds admit to
feeling lonely at the weekend.
Scoring highly in the poll were Maori and Pacific Islanders, who outshone other ethnic groups in five of the seven
categories of caring acts specified. Maori and Pacific Islanders were 50 percent more likely to have performed some kind
of voluntary work.
The poll endorses the popular notion that warmth and caring increase as you head into the heartland. Big city dwellers
and their provincial cousins volunteer in fairly equal proportions, but volunteers in the provinces gave up more of
their time with 60 percent undertaking voluntary work at least once a week, compared to 46 percent of volunteers in the
city.
It seems that Wellingtonians are busy out and about enjoying their “Top Town” status as awarded by North and South
magazine. According to the Reader’s Digest poll, 20 percent of “Top Towners” don’t speak to their neighbours in any
given week, with Christchurch being the next unsociable city with 19 percent.
The December issue of Reader’s Digest, in which the poll appears, is the 50th anniversary issue of the magazine in New
Zealand.
Ends
For more information or to arrange an interview with Father Des Britten, please phone Joanne Ruscoe : 04 499-0873
(work); 04 479-2923 (home) or 025 925 733 (mobile); or Kate Jackson: 04 495 7637 (work); 04 973 7491 (home).