New Zealand's strong ties and trusts have been highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the enormous task of combating the negative social and economic consequences will test Kiwis' mettle, says sociologist Paul Spoonley.
Professor Paul Spoonley. Photo: RNZ / Katie Scotcher
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Professor Spoonley joined Jim Mora to discuss the challenge New Zealand faces in trying to maintain some of the positive things we've seen through our reaction to Covid-19.
In 2000, Robert Putnam published his book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, which surveyed the decline of social capital in the US since the 1950s. The term 'social capital' measures the value of social resources gained through interpersonal relationships, a shared sense of identity and shared values.
In his research, Putman looked at the Boy Scouts as an example of how social and volunteer groups had declined over time. While Spoonley said the same downwards trend was true in New Zealand, there were some differences compared to the United States.
"We're a nation of joiners and people who volunteer, so I think you've got to look at the full spectrum and I don't think it's like the United States," he said. "In terms of something like sport and leisure, New Zealanders do a lot more in terms of participating."
The relatively small size of New Zealand compared to other countries helped foster a "sense of belonging", Spoonley said and this was evident in the trend of putting teddy bears in windows for children to spot while walking during Covid lockdowns.
"The advantage we have is that we're a small country, we're a long way from anywhere and there's that one degree of separation between many of us," he said.
"Our connectivity and our networks are really really strong and as soon as you get into a larger society you realise how intimate New Zealand is."
A teddy hangs in a window during New Zealand's first Covid lockdown. Photo: Supplied to RNZ
The challenged posed by Covid-19 had been an interesting "experiment" for different societies, in particular how it tested how strong bonds and trust were.
"When you look around the world you tend to realise that New Zealand has very high levels of social cohesion and social capital," he said - and our diverse population was one of the factors.
"Coming out of the GFC in 2013, we've entered a period in which there have been extraordinary high levels of inward migration. New Zealand in 2020 is a very different place, 27 percent of us have been born in another country and over half of us are either immigrants, or the children of immigrants."
In his book, Putnam talks about the ideas of bonding and bridging - bonding happens within communities, while bridging refers to relationships between different groups, the latter being more difficult to achieve.
Spoonley said a potential economic shock following Covid-19 could bring challenges to our levels of social cohesion.
"When we get an economic shock, it adds considerably to the degree of inequality and it impacts very negatively on particular groups," he said. "If you take Maori for example, in the period from 1987 to 89, one out of every five Maori lost their jobs."
The global financial crisis had also had impacted very significantly on Maori and Spoonley said indicators were already showing it would be the same during this pandemic.
"While we've got very strong ties and trust in this country, it is going to be a huge challenge in terms of the negative social and economic consequences which are going to impact differentially on this country."
Spoonley's main question was around how New Zealand would maintain the positive bonds and bridges built during the pandemic throughout the next few years, as we potentially face more unemployment and housing challenges.
"There's going to be a lot of negative consequences which are going to be accelerated sometimes, enhanced by what's happened through Covid 19," he said. "Can we maintain the degree of unity, the degree of sharing, the degree of empathy across some of these division that we're seeing emerging and produce policies that then begin to respond to that?"
Another thing noted by Putnam in Bowling Alone was the decrease in religious affiliation - something which has been observed in New Zealand in particular.
"We're a society that is rather unusual, when you compare us with many countries in Europe, with a country like Ireland or a country like the USA, where literally 80 to 90 percent of people identify with some religion or another, we don't, nearly half of us don't."
However, Spoonley said that didn't mean we hadn't held onto some of the core religious values from our past.
"We give and we look after one another at quite high levels compared with many other countries."
A Covid-19 awareness poster reminds New Zealanders to "be kind". Photo: Supplied
Another factor affecting our social cohesion looking forward was how the nature of employment had changed since the 1980s.
"I talk about disruption and one of the things I think is enormously disruptive is the fourth industrial revolution, which really began for us with those changes that were made by the 1984-89 Labour government and then embellished by the subsequent National government," he said.
This had led to an increase in non-standard work, such as casual, fixed term, or working more than one job - all of which are now standard.
"Many of our policies still fit that past standard nature of working and in fact, most of us no longer work like that. I think we're struggling really to see what the new world of work requires of our shared policies in this country."
How this change in working conditions affected people depended on where they were in the labour market, Spoonley said.
"If they were at the lower end of the school spectrum and they were working in a part of the economy that was terribly uncertain, they weren't getting enough money, they didn't feel as though they were protected, they didn't feel as though their employers valued them, then they had very negative views about the work," he said.
However, the 1990s also saw a shift of people into contract work, where people worked for themselves and provided services to others. Those who took this path found far more positive benefits from not working a standard 9 to 5 job.
"They found this new way of working incredibly satisfying, they had a high level of discretion over their time, they could look after their kids during the day, they could go on holiday, go skiing, if the water looks nice going out and doing a bit of fishing, and yet they got an adequate income."
But despite these challenges, Spoonley said if we were to invite Robert Putnam to New Zealand, he would say our bridging capital - our willingness to give to people who are different to ourselves - was actually one of the country's most important characteristics.
"We've got some enormous challenges, but comparing ourselves to other countries, quite often the bridging and bonding capital that Putnam talked about, there is evidence of it here in New Zealand in a way that other countries don't always see."