New Zealand households, like much of the world, are struggling with unsustainable levels of debt. While the New Zealand economy is in pretty good shape, the household debt to income ratio has risen from less than 60 percent in the early 1990s to 166 percent today. While it's yet to exceed the all-time high of 166.2 percent recorded in the second quarter of 2017, the ratio is stabilising rather than retreating. The situation in New Zealand mirrors what's happening in the rest of the world, with global debt levels higher today than they were during the credit crisis of 2008. 

The Government continues its attempt to unlock affordable housing across New Zealand, with homes from the KiwiBuild scheme already on the block in Auckland and new plans to build 10,000 homes as part of the Mt Roskill redevelopment project. All in all, the Government has committed $2 billion for KiwiBuild, as it aims to deliver 100,000 "modest starter" homes for first-home buyers over the next decade. The private sector is also starting to join the party, with ASB set to provide 95 percent housing loans to qualified KiwiBuild buyers.  

Not all household are the same, with vast differences between household size and composition around the world. According to the latest 'Database of Household Size and Composition' report from the United Nations, the average household size ranges from less than three people to more than six depending on where you live. While rising living standards across the world have led to a decrease in household size over the last few years, an ageing global population is creating additional household stress in some countries.

There is a rising anxiety epidemic sweeping across the world, with this silent mental health disorder affecting people of all ages, genders and races. According to one recent poll, adults in the United States are increasingly anxious about the world around them. The situation in Australia and New Zealand is not much better, with children as young as four diagnosed with anxiety and women particularly at risk. While rising levels of anxiety are a worry for us all, if harnessed properly, some people think anxiety could also be a power for good.

A space elevator has long been proposed as an affordable way to transport people and goods beyond Earth's atmosphere. While most of the work in this field has been in the realms of theory or science fiction, Japanese scientists have taken the first small steps into making this vision a reality. Researchers have just launched two tiny satellites to the International Space Station in an effort to test any changes in movement and orientation that could possibly affect future elevator transport.