Information sheet: Rural well-being

We used the WHO-5 Index to evaluate the well-being of commercial farmers, foresters and growers and lifestyle block owners.

The WHO-5 Index was developed over 20 years ago to assess well-being, and has become the most common measure of well-being worldwide. It is based on a short questionnaire reflecting on the previous two weeks and is measured on a 0–25 scale.

At risk of mental illness and depression

While the share of commercial operators who fell below the threshold score of 13 was similar to the NZ population as a whole, there was considerable variation across sectors.

By sector

Stress

We asked farmers, foresters and growers how often they felt stress.

Stress affects optimism

References

1 Stahlmann-Brown P 2021. Survey of Rural Decision Makers 2021. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. DOI: 10.7931/ 3tcs-wb24
2 IPSOS (2021). Well-being amongst New Zealanders. https://mentalhealth.org.nz/resources/resource/wellbeing-amongst-new-zealanders
3 Sischka, P. E., Costa, A. P., Steffgen, G., & Schmidt, A. F. (2020). The WHO-5 well-being index–validation based on item response theory and the analysis of measurement invariance across 35 countries. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 1, 100020.

About the survey

The Survey of Rural Decision Makers (SRDM) is a biennial survey of New Zealand’s primary sector conducted by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research since 2013. It covers commercial farmers, foresters and growers as well as lifestyle block owners from Cape Reinga to Rakiura.

SRDM is designed to build a better picture of decision making at the farm level, tackling topics that cannot be easily addressed in official statistics or directly by organisations. It is a valuable resource for policy makers, regional councils, industry groups and businesses.