Raising kids in New Zealand vs USA....the inside scoop on Parenting in NZ!

I’m another American that moved here to NZ and raised my children. I have two teenagers now, but I’m so grateful that I was able to raise them here, and that I didn’t have to work much when they were little. Playgroup/playcentre was a godsend, and I also took them to mainly music once a week. A group of parents that meet up and do singing and dancing with their kids, and then we all share food afterwards and the kids play with toys and mums have a chat together. I also had two coffee groups running. One for my antinatal class, and another group that we had formed through plunket. Plunket is amazing too. A plunket nurse stops by at your house or you can go into a plunket centre, and they record how your baby or toddler is doing, and make any suggestions or just have a chat. I didn’t have my own family over here, so all this support was so great! I feel very grateful!, and have wonderful memories❤️

As an American couple who have been in New Zealand for nearly fifty years now, raising children and experiencing them raising our grandchildren, we find your videos to be a perceptive and honest reflection of life here...we’ll always be Americans, but, we’re now first and foremost New Zealanders...

I really like how you're genuinely interested in learning and understanding about the country, and not just the superficial stuff. Glad our comments help you.

My observations would be: That the free 20hrs is for the health/wellbeing of parents but is, more importantly, designed to ensure children are ready for school.. ready to learn and socialise etc. The lack of threat of litigation is a huge help in allowing children to explore, push boundaries etc. I'm happy to allow kids to climb the tree in my yard, I won't be sued if one of them falls and breaks their arm.

"It takes a village to raise the children." This saying kept popping into my head as I watched.

Haha you make us sound like such rational, calm people. We do yell at our kids when they're naughty, playing deaf or in danger. But I guess for the most part, comparitively, we are a quieter and more relaxed bunch. One of the main reasons probably being we don't have many threats here. So there's no need to be in fight or flight (Generally speaking). And cultural attitudes too - for example, I think that we have a very different view of success and what is important in life and therefore our children perhaps aren't pushed to a particular standard as perhaps other countries. We are also a very recently colonised country so traditions aren't quite so cemented and we are generally very adaptable because of this.

Playcenter was a life saver for me. Building relationships when we moved to Wellington with an 18 month old and pregnant. My kids are 24 and 26 now and a group of us mother's go away for a week together every year. The saying is " you go for your kids, you stay for yourself". Best thing ever xx

I think in education NZ is at a much higher level than the US and seems to have been this way for many decades. In the early 1960's my family (parents; 8 siblings) moved to NY for my father's job at the UN. After 3 years we moved to Boston so he could complete his Phd at MIT. We returned to NZ in the late '60's and every one of us children were found to be at least a year behind our peers and us older ones had to repeat a year. Also - an anecdotal aside - one of my sisters who was living and teaching in the US in the early 2000's, was told by the principal of her school to remove the map of the world (which she had bought and paid for herself) that she had hung in her classroom. "These kids don't need to know about other countries", was his reasoning. Mind blowing!

Kids are our future. May we keep the standards high for our future.

One of the dominant reasons NZ and other countries has such strong maternal and early childhood support publicly funded is that it saves money long term. A healthy, safe, stress free first 3 years of life has dramatic effects in terms of lower mental health issues, criminality, imprisonment (yes I'm looking at you USA) etc. It's the most important time of life and makes or breaks then next 80 years.

When I lived overseas I was 16 -17yo and I used to babysit three little New Zealand girls - each a year apart from same family and the way they talked to me was so hilarious like they were little mini adults. But they'd also tattle tale on me too so I had to watch my back and make sure I gave them "tea" on time, etc. They were a hoot and compared to American children were so very confident but they were quite devious too. I suppose I was raised to be beaten when "naughty" but they were never never raised that way.

Well Tara, I'm super happy how you explained how it works in NZ! I'ts fifty years since l raised children and I've been a little unaware of how it's done today. Obviously we're doing pretty good. Something to keep in mind when people talk how expensive it is to live here. The price of avocados and fuel etc., are balanced a little by the quality of life, plus by some of the things you explained about early childhood support. Love y'all.👍🏻💕🇳🇿

Your becoming such a great youtuber now! Love all the gifs! Sometimes I can''t hear you very well and have to put headphones on, but keep up the good work!

It takes a village. I feel like the rest of the world sees NZ as a primitive society but hey the best of us look after each other. You continually remind me how lucky I am to have grown up in NZ. Bernardo’s is amazing spent a lot of time with them before I was five after my parents devorse.

I love this video. I own a small daycare in upstate NY and I absolutely agree with the stress of the cost on the parents. It’s insane. I’m one of the cheapest providers and it’s still a huge burden on parents. There are places nearby that charge parents almost $1400 a month for 1 child! That’s almost 3 times my price. That’s awful. I can also say that on the end of the daycare provider that the amount of money we make is not survivable. I could never feed my family on this income alone. The system is definitely broken. I’ve been fascinated by NZ’s approach to childcare for many years. There approach is so much less stress on the kids and more personalized. I’m trying to find a job in that field there. Can you think of any pitfalls an American would have working with NZ children?

It is so sad that these basic support payments and systems are not available in the USA. Each time I watch these comparison videos I feel so sorry for Americans and their absolute dependence is upon money and how it is the centre of their world.

The big thing is we let our kids be kids, not forcing our ideals down their throats, (we do give guidance when they get into their late teens) nor do we place them in competitive situations, eg as in the States with Miss Tiny Tot competitions. The initial years of a child is greatly valued, although having said that there are still those parents who abuse verbally and physically. The child's health is paramount - education, doctor's visits, dental, sports etc. There is a raft of services available to help, most are free of charge. The other major point is parents and grand parents can spend valuable quality time with their child/grand child, they are not bound to work and generally neighbour hoods add to that quality time with local kids getting together. Most areas have a local park or playground where kids can safely play. I think NZ's overall culture has a major impact on the child's well being, we are a realitively laid back society but can most certainly put our nose to the grind stone when needs arise - "she'll be right mate" and we do work as a team. I have traveled overseas to principal countries many times and each time I have asked myself what are these people doing to themselves, where are the smiles and the hi ya; not all the time, but on many occasions the kids look as stressed as what their folks are, where is their time out.

I like play centre. The ones that I have been involved with were really well resourced. There was a large variety of toys and books. The playground had lots of things to play on. Children can do art, play musical instruments, and play educational games as well. There is a nature area where kids can learn about living creatures. They also can use real hammers, nails, etc. Kids can learn cooking or baking too.

Having no poisonous or dangerous fauna in NZ is perhaps another reason that we let our kids explore more than perhaps is normal elsewhere. 🤔

I arrived to NZ 11 years ago, with a 2 YO and pregnant and I found Playcentre it was a great support not just for the children but the all family. We created our friend Net and extend "family".