The 2014 report from the OECD shows that New Zealand society has many good points but also some that are not so good.
The OECD means the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. There are 34 member countries, most of which are advanced countries but members also include some developing countries like Mexico and Turkey. New Zealand is a member and it is interesting to look at how we are doing in comparison with the average of OECD countries.
These are some of the good points. We are second highest in the OECD with good health statistics. 89% of New Zealand adults are in good health compared with the OECD average of about 69%. New Zealand women have more babies, an average of 2.06 compared with the OECD average of 1.70. 92% of New Zealand people think this country is a good place for immigrants to live. About one quarter of our population was born in another country.
However, we still have too many children living in poverty. The percentage of poor children has increased by 1% in the last few years. More people are finding it difficult to feed their families. The percentage of people who say they do not have enough money for food has increased from 10% to 17%.
For more information about the OECD comparisons, listen to December 10th 2010.
Grammar
1. compare (v), comparison (n)
phrases: compared with / to; in / by comparison with
2. poor (adj), poverty (n)
phrase: living in poverty
3. feed (v), food (n)
phrase: to feed someone