Wage Parity Across Regions

I'm immeasurably uplifted by some trade me data. Could it be uh we are finally getting the message on rural and provincial New Zealand? So job data shows increasingly. Uh we're looking to the regions for work. More people, 68% are prepared to move. So always be careful, of course, of surveys. What people say and what they do doesn't always equate. But I would figure at least some of the 68% must actually be wanting to pull the trigger. Now there's been a 12% month-on-month search increase in job ads, and the likes of New Plymouth up 40%. In Vicagle, 37%. Palmerston, 23%. Now I've said for years, if you can do what you do anywhere, why would you do it in a place you can't afford to live in? See, lack of money makes life miserable. It limits choices, it makes us stressed, it closes financial doors. Too many people are stuck in a place like Auckland, right? Auckland is disproportionately large. If you think about it, one and a half million plus for a five million population is ludicrous. And the salaries that this country pays on average do not support a decent life in a place like Auckland or Queenstown, or possibly even a large slice of the Bay of Plenty. But there are lots of jobs where the wage is the same no matter where you are. In fact, one of the most glaring pieces of intel is your average wage. If you look at the stats, your average wage, it's broadly the same in most places around the country. A little bit higher in Wellington because of the public service, of course, but overall it's in the 70s and 80s, 70,000, 80,000. That's where we sit about on average. Now, you don't need to be a rocket scientist, do you? To know that, as a couple say, you're earning two lots of 70-ish thousand a year. That's 140,000-ish. That goes a hell of a lot further in Nelson than it does in Auckland or Queenstown. Uh, the house price on the West Coast is nothing like the north of the country. This land is festooned with amazing provincial cities that have a lot of big city access and choices. Even Christchurch, which is booming, is still comparatively affordable. And by the time you get to small town New Zealand, I mean for goodness sake, you're rolling in it in your $500,000 house. You got no commute. You get up later in the morning because you got no commute, less stress, the whole thing, you know, all the while you're doing exactly the same job, earning the same money. So I hope the stats are real and the move is on. There's a lot of New Zealand uh that's never really been fully utilized or appreciated. If your lot is too hard, move. You won't know yourself. For more from the Mike Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks Ed B from 6 a.m. weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.