# So my wife is trying to persuade me to move to New Zealand
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 31, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402 "2020-10-31T12:50:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/1 "2020-10-31T12:50:59Z")
My wife is American, moved here (UK) in…2006? We’ve been married since 2012 and now have a four year old daughter.
We’ve seen all sense and reason thrown out of the window what with Brexit and Trump. We’re deeply pessimistic about the future of the UK and while America looks likely to be redeeming itself next week, neither of us have any desire to move to a country with no public healthcare, rampant gun crime and ownership, and likely to be continuing environmental and regulatory dilatoriness. We’re just not convinced America is a great place to raise a family.
On the other hand while my wife is a bit of a butterfly when it comes to moving countries it’s something that my family aren’t really known for (we’ve been in the same 50-mile area of south Essex for hundreds of years! My grandad is exotic for moving to Scotland!). So it’s something that fills me with mild anxiety at minimum.
But New Zealand my wife has seized upon, not only because it’s a pretty country (based on what we’re told) but also because her boss, who is a Kiwi, insists she’d find loads of work there (she’s in IT and business consultancy), but also because apparently NZ schools are excellent.
I’ve said I’m willing to entertain the possibility of moving if there’s an overwhelming positive case. Anybody got knowledge to confirm/corroborate popular things about NZ? Any downsides or stuff we could be regretting?
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### Author:  [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/2 "2020-10-31T13:12:51Z")
Speaking from the UK and have nothing except 3 brief visits to NZ to back this up, but if I had the choice, regardless of deep rooted local connections, I would not be sitting in South Essex now… GO! (before Britannia finally slips beneath the waves).
You’ll feel right at home 🙂
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### Author:  [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/3 "2020-10-31T13:44:34Z")
I have friends in NZ but can only speak from the perspective of a tourist…but if I had that opportunity, I’d be packing right now. It’s a beautiful country, all the people we met there were lovely, they have an amazing PM, and I would move there in a heartbeat.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/4 "2020-10-31T13:49:35Z")
I’ve never been to New Zealand so I can’t provide any valid opinions about living in that country. But personally, if I was contemplating relocating to another country, I would visit it first for an extended period of a few weeks just to see if I liked living there.
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### Author:  [@albino\_manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_manatee)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/5 "2020-10-31T13:49:48Z")
have you visited nz? has your wife? i’d suggest visiting there for a full year … getting to know the ecology and economy of nz … perhaps also the politics. sure … the wife can find employment easily … but, next year, another child may start sliding down the rainbow … and that could change everything. so, in that case … you’d need to find a job that can support the family. good luck.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/6 "2020-10-31T13:53:52Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#):
>
> …while America looks likely to be redeeming itself next week, neither of us have any desire to move to a country with no public healthcare
Wherever you move should have the same high standards for hyperbole to which you’ve become accustomed.
> **[Read "Leadership by Example: Coordinating Government Roles in Improving...](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/10537/chapter/4)**
>
> Read chapter 2 Overview of the Government Health Care Programs: The federal government operates six major health care programs that serve nearly 100 milli...
> **[Summary of the Public Health System in the United States](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK218212/)**
>
> This section summarizes the organization of health agencies, the range of activities carried out by them, and their use and allocation of resources at the federal, state, and local levels. When possible, the range of activities of health agencies are...
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/7 "2020-10-31T13:53:55Z")
NZ is fine, but I would prefer to have a job offer in hand (preferably both of you), then move.
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> I’ve never been to New Zealand so I can’t provide any valid opinions about living in that country. But personally, if I was contemplating relocating to another country, I would visit it first for an extended period of a few weeks just to see if I liked living there.
Sure, ideally you could arrange to spend half or one year there before deciding whether or not to move more permanently.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/8 "2020-10-31T13:58:55Z")
I’d go if I had the money to do so comfortably, is NZ an easy country to move to? Under no circumstances would I move to the US from a country with a social safety net.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/9 "2020-10-31T15:03:48Z")
Are you trying to make a case that the US _does_ have public health care? From your first reference
> The six major government health care programs serve older persons, persons with disabilities, low-income mothers and children, veterans, active-duty military personnel and their dependents, and Native Americans. Three of these programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)—were devised for groups for whom the health care market has historically failed to work because of their high health care needs and low socioeconomic status. The remaining three programs—DOD TRICARE, VHA, and IHS—serve particular populations with whom the federal government has a special relationship, respectively, military personnel and their dependents, veterans, and Native Americans.
That doesn’t cover me, nor 2/3 of the population. The fact that the government has to provide help for “groups for whom the health care market has historically failed to work” is an indictment of our health care “system.”
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### Author:  [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/10 "2020-10-31T15:22:30Z")
As a non-rich, non-poor American, let me say… We have no real public healthcare system, and to claim otherwise is disingenuous at best.
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### Author:  [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/11 "2020-10-31T15:42:49Z")
I mispoke:I should have said “while America looks likely to be redeeming itself next week, neither of us have any desire to move to a country with dreadful public healthcare for all but the wealthiest”
Happy?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/12 "2020-10-31T16:42:12Z")
Based on my vast experience of knowing one family who moved to New Zealand to get away from the rest of their dysfunctional family and the circumstances that got them that way and now think it was a wonderful idea and wouldn’t consider moving back to the US before their kids are grown, I think it’s a good idea.
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### Author:  [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/13 "2020-10-31T17:19:56Z")
I have a colleague who is from NZ and she would go back in a red-hot minute. Except her ex-husband won’t let her take the kids as it’s too far away. NZ is a long way from anywhere.
Which is one of the biggest advantages and disadvantages of NZ.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/14 "2020-10-31T17:20:58Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#):
>
> Any downsides or stuff we could be regretting?
You would be something like 19,000 KM and 11 or 12 time zones away from what you are familiar with.
That said, nothing good happens without throwing some caution to the wind. It is a place with the same language and same general culture so it should not be to overwhelming if you do decide to move there.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/15 "2020-10-31T17:57:13Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#):
>
> I mispoke:I should have said “while America looks likely to be redeeming itself next week, neither of us have any desire to move to a country with dreadful public healthcare for all but the wealthiest”
>
> Happy?
To achieve accuracy all you had to do was say you didn’t want to live in a country that lacks universal public health care. It’s amazing though how many of your countrymen are able to overlook that.
“Early British settlers flocked to the U.S. to find wealth and/or religious freedom. These days, America is just as alluring to Brits with about six percent of us saying we’d like to live here and around 700,000 of us currently doing so.”
[https://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/09/eight-reasons-brits-move-to-america](https://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/09/eight-reasons-brits-move-to-america)
I agree with you however. What with all but plutocrats dropping dead in the streets due to disease and gun violence, stay well clear of America or you’ll be sorry.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/16 "2020-10-31T18:37:32Z")
I’m an American. I spent a few weeks working in Wellington NZ and spent a few years working with companies and ministries based there. I’d move there in a heartbeat if they’d have me and I could replace my current job. With retirement beckoning I may be able to make it happen then.
ISTM it’s a no-brainer for a UK person; the cultural changes will be minor compared to moving to the USA. NZ isn’t perfect, but it sure seems like they have figured out most of this 21st Century educated thoughtful civilization stuff rather than regressing headlong into the 19th Century. Or the 12th.
I second the notion that as long as you’re married to a woman of childbearing years and attitude, you’ll want to have your job lined up there as well as hers _before_ you make the jump. There’s out on a limb and then there’s out on a 20K km limb.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/17 "2020-10-31T18:41:31Z")
Before you get your hopes up too high, do some research on what the requirements are for non-citizens to make a permanent move to NZ. I believe it is quite difficult to emigrate there, although I could be wrong.
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### Author:  [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/18 "2020-10-31T18:42:41Z")
That’s my impression as well. Many countries will welcome visitors, but there are often major hoops to jump through before you can work or live there on a permanent basis.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/19 "2020-10-31T20:14:42Z")
What concessions are she willing to negotiate?
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/20 "2020-10-31T20:30:09Z")
**Modnote** : If you really want to argue about the US healthcare system. Please start a new thread and invite people over to it. Let’s not hijack this thread any further about the US healthcare system.
This is just a mod note, not a warning. If you disagree, please do so by PM or an ATMB thread.
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