Australian women value family life over security, prosperity, excitement or importance while New Zealand women opt for security over family according to Roy Morgan Research.
When asked what their main goal in life was from the five choices, 41.9% of more than 26,000 Australian women aged 14+ chose family followed by 28.7% for security. Amongst more than 7,200 New Zealand women, 35% chose security, ahead of 30.8% who chose family. In both countries, prosperity was third – 11.4% in Australia and 16.9% in New Zealand.
The Australian result also showed remarkable consistency between women of different generations. Of the five generations surveyed, it was only the youngest group, Generation Z (born since 1991), where family life was valued at less than 40%. Generation Y (1976 – 1990) is the most family oriented, just marginally below Generation X (1961 – 1975). Pre-boomers (prior to 1946) and Baby Boomers (1946-1960) are not far behind.
While Gen Z girls and women rated family life at a lower rate than other age groups, it was still the most popular choice; but 20.1% of this age group also rated an ‘exciting’ life as their top goal, more than double any other age group.
In New Zealand, family life is the top goal among Gen Y (36.3%) and Z (24.6%), but is far less of a priority for the older age groups. In fact, the two desire of the two older generations for a secure life above a family life is so strong it skews the national average. A resounding 51.8% of Pre-Boomers and 42.7% of Baby Boomers say security is their priority.
Like their Aussie counterparts, however, more Gen Z women and girls (22.4%) would prefer an exciting life to a secure one (17.5%) - which raises the inevitable question: does the desire for excitement decline with age?
And an important life? Not so important in the great scheme of things, it seems. A relatively modest 6.6% of Australian women and just 4.0% of Kiwi women name this as their main goal.