{"id":393265,"date":"2026-04-23T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/393265\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:30:09","slug":"financial-stress-is-fraying-new-zealands-social-fabric-as-trust-and-unity-fall-new-report-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/393265\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial stress is fraying New Zealand\u2019s social fabric as trust and unity fall, new report claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest report saw major shifts in social attitudes and beliefs over 2025; trust in the Government fell three points to 39%, belief in hard work dropped seven points to 45% and declining immigration sentiment mirrored global trends.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe report’s co-author, economist Shambeel Eaqub, said financial stress is the biggest impediment to social cohesion. Photo \/ Smoke Photo & Video<\/p>\n

The report deemed financial strain the most significant factor impeding social cohesion, with those struggling under the cost of living considerably less likely to feel connected, trust public institutions and engage with their communities.<\/p>\n

Paired with rising loneliness and isolation, Eaqub said social participation is moving \u201caway from traditional institutions and toward more oppositional or online forms of engagement\u201d.<\/p>\n

Drawing from the two years of survey data, the report categorised New Zealanders into three distinct social groups; the connected (30%), the ambivalent (41%) and the alienated (28%).<\/p>\n

Eaqub described it as having \u201cthree different New Zealands living alongside each other\u201d, with the connected group recording strong social cohesion indicators against the alienated group\u2019s more extreme social disconnect.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancial stress, political allegiance, institutional distrust and social isolation are reinforcing each other, producing a population that is frustrated and disconnecting from the conventional institutions we rely on for collective decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GrowingGrowing isolation and institutional distrust were also chipping away at New Zealand’s social glue, the report warned. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n

Despite the fragility, 80% of Kiwis surveyed felt a sense of national belonging and pride in the country\u2019s way of life, similar to last year\u2019s result.<\/p>\n

Youth were also found to be the most aspirational age group, despite recording the worst social cohesion outcomes in the report.<\/p>\n

The foundation is now asking politicians to consider how legislative power can be used to restore common ground and foster mutual understanding among fractured groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial cohesion isn\u2019t a \u2018nice-to-have\u2019 \u2013 it\u2019s what allows a country to make difficult decisions and navigate long-term challenges,\u201d Eaqub said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens when communities have the support and conditions to solve problems together, manage differences, and care for each other over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want a resilient, inclusive New Zealand, strengthening social cohesion is vital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest report saw major shifts in social attitudes and beliefs over 2025; trust in the Government fell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[15408,534,95,806,138,2562,1887,63212,219,14768,63633,3592,1644,203203,226,25393,185,14607,112116,117,111,139,69,1560,1072,3405,9438,24182,1455,24750,2963],"class_list":{"0":"post-393265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-almost","9":"tag-amid","10":"tag-and","11":"tag-as","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-claims","14":"tag-countrys","15":"tag-distrust","16":"tag-economy","17":"tag-every","18":"tag-fabric","19":"tag-fall","20":"tag-financial","21":"tag-fraying","22":"tag-growing","23":"tag-institutional","24":"tag-is","25":"tag-isolation","26":"tag-measure","27":"tag-new","28":"tag-new-zealand","29":"tag-newzealand","30":"tag-nz","31":"tag-report","32":"tag-social","33":"tag-stress","34":"tag-trust","35":"tag-unity","36":"tag-warning","37":"tag-zealanders","38":"tag-zealands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}