Dreamtime For Australia and NZ

The last ten years in New Zealand have been 'fabulous' and life has been rapidly improving, according to results from Nielsen Media Research. Could this be connected to a separate Nielsen survey revealing that they and their neighbours in Aus get more sleep than anyone else in the AsiaPac region?

Thirty-one percent of Australians and twenty-eight percent of New Zealanders average nine or more hours of sleep a night, according to the ACNielsen research. At the other end of the scale among citizens of the Asia Pacific is Japan with just 1% in this category.

The Australians are the earliest to bed - 24% of Aussies are in bed by 10pm. Only 18% of Kiwis go to bed after midnight compared to the Asia Pacific average of 40%. The Taiwanese are the region's night owls - 35% go to bed after 1am, followed by 31% of Hong Kongers and 27% of Singaporeans, but combining this with early rising brings Japan out as the nation that sleeps least. 41% of Japanese get less than seven hours and 82% less than eight hours. Indonesia is the nearest challenger, with a high number sleeping less than 6 hours (12% - double the proportion for any other country). Predictably perhaps, the late-to-bed Taiwanese are also the last up - 26% arise after 9am.

More than 14,000 people were interviewed in 28 countries around the world, online, in the latest wave of a six-monthly survey covering a range of topics.

Meanwhile Nielsen Media Research published results from a survey of the quality of life in New Zealand, suggesting that for people of all ethnic backgrounds the last ten years have been years of great success. Living in New Zealand: 10 Fabulous Years uses data from Nielsen Media's Panorama database, compiled from interviews with 12,000 New Zealanders each period and compares data from 1994, 1999 and 2004.

The report says that New Zealand has become a better place to live and work, with growth and improvements in every key area. These include rapid population growth, fed by a high influx of migrants and particularly in ethnically diverse Auckland; improving racial harmony; solid growth in incomes and a significant drop in the number of people who claim they find it difficult to make ends meet (down from almost one in three in 1994, to one in four in 2004); better opportunities for women and a better life with more equality and a new cultural pride for Maoris.

Nick Jones, Executive Director of Nielsen Media Research says the report reveals an increasingly successful and confident nation eager to build its connections with the rest of world. 'From a solid domestic position, New Zealand has confidently opened its doors to the rest of the world and from 2001 has welcomed a substantially higher intake of migrants. Many thousands of these new arrivals are highly skilled business managers, business owners and professionals from Europe, Asia and the Pacific region'.

ACNielsen NZ is online at www.acnielsen.co.nz and Nielsen Media Research at www.nielsenmedia.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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