Family friendly

Many New Zealanders who spend time live abroad come back home when they want to start a family.

Children here enjoy many things that other countries can’t offer.

Family Friendly

01:47

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Rolf Sigaard: I think people come to New Zealand for number of reasons. I was offered opportunity to move the family out in an environment I thought was really good for kids.

Simon Shaw: One of the reasons we as a family love it in New Zealand is just the lifestyle, the quality of life. The people are friendly. To be honest with you, at first, we thought something was up - why were these people being so friendly to us when we first arrived. And it's just people's nature.

Bob Stimson: We found that there's a real sense of community that we just haven't seen in the U.S. People stop and talk to you when you're out walking about, so that was very refreshing.

Adrian Matthews: We're looking forward to enjoying the school system and the smaller class sizes. We're really keen to get the kids into the system. That's a big reason for coming.

Simon Shaw: Something we've been pleased with is the quality of the schools. We fill the schools here try and produce a more well-rounded child.

Adrian Matthews: As a family we're really enjoying the ability to get out in the hills and take the kids out into the environment and have a good look around. It's absolutely stunning up there.

Simon Shaw: We feel safe here as a family. It's not uncommon for people to go out and not lock their doors.

Gisele Abrianos: I'm thinking about growing our family here, we think it is better here, because we have the work life balance.

John Evangelista: We spend a lot of time with our friends, and on the weekends we go outside, and we do camping as well with all of our other friends. And barbeques.

Simon Shaw: Personally, we did it for the children and for their future, and we definitely think we've made the right decision.

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Lifestyle choices

New Zealand is the perfect place to bring up children.

It’s more stable, peaceful and safe than just about anywhere else in the world.

Here, young people can grow up with easy access to sports and outdoors.

They have space and freedom: to ride horses, to run along open beaches, to swim in clean water, to walk through native forests and to experience the beauty of nature.

Our wide open spaces give you have the choice of every style of living you and your family could want - from suburban homes with room for kids to run around in, to places by the seaside or even a spot out in the country with your own farm animals.

There is a wide range of housing options in New Zealand in terms of style, quality and price depending on location.

Many tend to be built for our temperate climate and often don’t have some of the creature comforts (e.g. central heating, double glazing) people may be used to in cooler parts of the world.

Housing in New Zealand

New Zealand is the perfect place to bring up children. 

Wellington, New Zealand

Developed public services

Families in New Zealand get great support from a range of public services.

They can access welfare and support if someone has an accident or if a parent can’t work because of sickness or unemployment.

Healthcare

Our healthcare is good quality, affordable and accessible.

New Zealand residents* can get free or low cost healthcare because of Government subsidies.

Non-residents can also use healthcare services, but at a cost.

If you are injured in an accident, much of your medical and recovery costs are likely to be covered by our Accident Compensation scheme (ACC) — even if you were at fault.

Healthcare

Injuries we cover | ACC

All eight of New Zealand's universities are in Top 500 of the QS World University Rankings for 2015/16

World University Rankings 2022 | QS Top Universities

World-class education

New Zealand has an excellent education system from preschool to postgraduate.

With a safe learning environment and a healthy dose of the outdoor recreation available in our wide open spaces, you have a recipe for producing resourceful and confident young adults ready to take on the world.

Education and schooling