Kiwi expats returning home for lifestyle

Kiwi expatriates living overseas who plan to return home will do so because of New Zealand's lifestyle, according to a new study of expatriates.

Dr Lindy Fursman of Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies, herself currently an expatriate based in the south of France, used data collected by the expatriate network KEA, and analysed a large sample of more than 13,000 New Zealanders living overseas. The research explored which expatriates intended to come home, and why they would do so.

Of the sample, 57 percent planned a return to New Zealand in the future, but those with the highest qualifications were more likely to be planning to live overseas indefinitely. Women were more likely to be planning to return than men.

While previous research has shown that expatriates move because of jobs and opportunities for greater incomes, New Zealand expatriates in Dr Fursman's study planned to return to take advantage of New Zealand's "enhanced lifestyle and culture." Few respondents cited job, economic or income prospects as the reason or driver for coming home.

The research identifies a need for new measures of lifestyle.

"Current measures don’t accurately capture the factors that are important to daily living for families with children, for whom lifestyle is the primary driver bringing them home," says Dr Fursman.

"Given that New Zealand's competitive advantage internationally is lifestyle, we need to know how we are doing compared with other countries that New Zealand expatriates, and other migrants, favour."