Compared to the United States, the cost of living is a good deal higher in New Zealand. This is mainly due to the fact that New Zealand is an island country and must have many of its good imported from elsewhere. For example, a doughnut would be around 3-4 dollars. If I wanted to live or study abroad there, I would want to get an apartment in somewhere like Auckland which is the most populated city in New Zealand. Auckland is also the most expensive city to live in. An apartment in Auckland can cost anywhere from 300 to 400 dollars a week which includes a car space. Wages for most unskilled labor is also the same as here, but with the increase in prices you would be able to buy less. The cost of gasoline however is much more than even the United States, coming in at around 1.50 per liter. This adds up to about $6 a gallon. With those kind of gas prices, I think I would rather rely on public transportation or biking to places. Living expenses such as food would cost about 60-100 dollars a week while power and phone services would cost about 60 dollars a week. I would also like to have internet while I’m there, which would cost another 70 dollars. Adding all the weekly expenses up, I think that overall it would be difficult to support oneself in one of the major cities in New Zealand without a well paying job. The jobs in New Zealand pay out an average annual salary of about 70,000 dollars. For a student studying abroad and on a budget, it would make much more sense for them to study somewhere other than New Zealand’s big cities such as Auckland and Christchurch which sports similar prices. Since it has reputable universities spread all across the country, it would be better to go to one that has a lower cost of living. Christchurch had an earthquake back in 2011 which subsequently caused a staggering increase in the property prices which are still felt today. New Zealand has a higher tax rate than the U.S. at 15 percent as well. Another thing to consider when living in New will have to pay for it while those who came to New Zealand for work and hold a working permit will be able to get it for free. Even so, health insurance costs are very affordable.
Sources
http://www.enz.org/healthcare-migrants-newzealand.html
http://www.enz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.html
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=New+Zealand
https://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140621211039AAuw15P
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121209034214AAoWbuR
Sources
http://www.enz.org/healthcare-migrants-newzealand.html
http://www.enz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.html
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=New+Zealand
https://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140621211039AAuw15P
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121209034214AAoWbuR