It’s not just about the money: The benefits of asset ownership
Overview
Many New Zealanders currently do not own significant amounts of assets. However, personal asset ownership is vital to the welfare of individuals, communities, and the overall country. For individuals, assets allow people to access return opportunities and to better manage risks. The non-financial benefits provided by assets are as important as the direct financial benefits. Asset ownership allows people to exert much more control over their lives and enhances people's life opportunities. For example, asset ownership is consistently linked to improved health and employment outcomes, higher reported well-being, family stability, and improved educational outcomes for children. Asset ownership also matters for the functioning of communities. Broad asset ownership contributes to social cohesion as more people are able to participate meaningfully in society. However, despite the substantial personal and community benefits from asset ownership, there are few deliberate policies to encourage New Zealanders to save and to build wealth. This approach has contributed to the poor savings and wealth outcomes that we observe. The report describes why deliberate action is required to create an ownership society.> Executive summary (188kb PDF)
> Full report (565kb PDF)
