New Zealanders are growing increasingly worried about healthcare and inflation, while confidence in Labour has continued to decline, a survey shows.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
The Ipsos Issues Monitor Report regularly surveys about 1000 New Zealanders 18 years and older about the things they are most concerned about.
Housing remained the biggest concern for the most people when surveyed over 4-10 October, with 54 percent rating it as a top issue for them, but that was little changed from the 53 percent recorded in the previous survey in June and down from a high of 60 percent in February.
Healthcare and hospitals - the second-highest rated topic - was becoming more of a worry, jumping from 27 percent to 35 percent, the highest level since the survey began in 2018. Healthcare was less of a concern to people in Auckland, and more of a concern to people aged over 50.
Inflation and cost of living concerns also increased to record levels, from 27 percent to 31 percent, and was more of a concern for those aged 18-34.
The top five issues identified by survey participants. Photo: Ipsos / NZ Issues Monitor Report
Rounding out the top five concerns were poverty/inequality (26 percent) and crime/law (24 percent).
Concerns about the economy - which rated as the top issue in May through September last year and hitting a high of 47 percent - remained fairly steady at 23 percent (up from 22 percent in June).
Confidence in Labour declines
Amid all this, confidence in the government's performance has continued to fall steadily since November last year, having hit a high of 7.6 out of 10 in May last year after the first level 4 lockdown.
Fewer people rated Labour as the party most capable on each of the top five concerns, all five measures falling steadily from a high in November last year.
Just 32 percent of people felt Labour was the most capable on housing, falling steadily from a high of 47 percent in November last year. Similarly on healthcare, Labour fell to 45 percent compared to 61 percent last November.
Ratings of confidence in the government over time. Photo: Ipsos / NZ Issues Monitor Report
The government now rates at 5.8 out of 10. This is still above pre-pandemic levels but the gap between people's confidence in Labour's ability to manage the big concerns compared to National has continued to narrow.
In Auckland specifically, National is considered more capable on inflation, crime, the economy, transport and infrastructure.
People across the country remained most confident in Labour's abilities on 17 of the top 20 issues, though the Green Party regained confidence in ability to manage climate change and the environment after being overtaken by Labour earlier in the year. The Māori Party was considered most able on issues facing Māori.