The Challenges facing small towns
- In this section:
Outside our main centres, the dual challenges of decreasing population growth rates and a steadily aging population are putting pressure on small town New Zealand.
Aging populations
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Many of our regional populations are aging. This follows a wider OECD trend for aging populations across the western world, and is equally apparent in New Zealand. This issue is compounded by population movements within the country - as more people are drawn to our cities, there are potentially fewer young people and families to drive economic activity in our small towns and regions.
Some of the consequences of population aging can be:
- Lower average household incomes. Regions with an older demographic balance tend to feature lower levels of household income, a major factor in the assessment of living standards.
- Lower rates of growth for local government income. Local governments are responsible for providing a plethora of services to local populations. Aging populations with lower household incomes and slowing rates of population growth threaten a disparity between services required and available tax/rate revenue to support that spending.
- Population decline and shrinking workforces. In the longer term, with lower population growth rates, many regions face reducing populations and shrinking workforces.
Dependence on limited primary industry
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Many regions are faced with economic dependence on a limited number of traditional primary industries – like fishing, horticulture, forestry and agriculture.
These primary industries, while vital to our economy, generally feature lower rates of GDP per worker, lower average incomes and lower skill level requirements than the more service-oriented industries clustered in and around our main centres.
Increasing regional activity.
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If many of our regions are to meet the challenges of an aging population, shrinking workforces and the resulting potential for economic stagnation or decline, game changing industries like the oil and gas industry offer high value jobs and essential economic activity.
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