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How young people experience school plays a critical role in their mental health, according to new findings from Growing Up in New Zealand.

The Now We Are Fifteen Education and Mental Health and Wellbeing snapshot reports, released today, show that 15-year-olds who feel satisfied with school and confident coping with everyday school demands report better mental wellbeing, lower anxiety and depression, and more positive peer relationships. By contrast, young people who experience discrimination at school are more likely to struggle both academically and emotionally.

The reports draw on data from more than 4000 participants who are part of this country’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing, led by the University of Auckland. The study provides a new window into how young people are navigating mid-adolescence.

“School isn’t just a place where young people learn, it’s an environment that plays an important role in shaping their wellbeing,” said Growing Up in New Zealand Research Director Professor Sarah-Jane Paine.

“Teenagers spend a large part of their lives at school, so it’s not surprising that school experiences matter for mental health. What’s powerful about these findings is that feeling supported, able to cope, and treated fairly is closely linked to wellbeing. That tells us school environments are an important lever for adolescent mental health.”

Professor Paine said the findings are not about adding to schools’ already full workloads or placing responsibility solely on educators.

“This research shows that schools are integral to young people’s wellbeing, and recognising that means ensuring they are properly supported and resourced to create environments where young people can thrive.”

Key findings include:

• School experience and mental health are closely linked
• Young people with higher school satisfaction and higher academic buoyancy (confidence in handling school demands) reported better mental wellbeing, lower anxiety and depression, and stronger peer relationships.
• Discrimination undermines both learning and wellbeing
• Young people who experienced discrimination were less likely to feel satisfied with school (34% compared with 44%) and reported lower academic buoyancy (3.9 compared with 4.5). Experiencing discrimination was also associated with poorer mental wellbeing and higher anxiety and depression, with most discrimination reported as occurring at school.
• Disabled young people face additional barriers
• Only 26% of disabled young people reported high school satisfaction, compared with 43% of those without a disability. Disabled young people also reported lower academic buoyancy, higher levels of discrimination (34% compared with 17%), poorer mental wellbeing, and less positive peer relationships. 
• Connection matters
• Strong friendships, feeling connected to culture, and feeling supported at school were all linked to better wellbeing and more positive school experiences. Young people with higher cultural connectedness were more likely to feel satisfied with school and better able to cope with school demands. 

The reports also highlight that while most young people have high hopes for their future, with tertiary education the most common aspiration, many feel pressure about exams, NCEA, and what comes next.

Professor Paine said the findings show that young people’s mental health and learning environments cannot be viewed in isolation.

“How young people feel at school influences their wellbeing, and their wellbeing in turn affects how they cope with learning. Supporting young people means looking beyond academic achievement alone and recognising that wellbeing, inclusion, connection, and learning are deeply intertwined.”

“Creating positive school environments and addressing discrimination are not ‘nice to haves’, they are practical, evidence-based steps that are central to helping young people thrive. Doing this well requires sustained support for schools, alongside coordinated action across education, health, and community services.”

The reports point to opportunities for action across education, health, and community settings:

• Create positive school environments that build school satisfaction and academic buoyancy, recognising these as foundations for mental wellbeing.
• Strengthen anti-discrimination policies and school-level responses, including monitoring and practical support for students who experience unfair treatment.
• Invest in inclusive education, with tailored learning supports and protections from discrimination, including co-design with disabled young people and their families.
• Support cultural connection through culturally sustaining teaching and curricula, visibility of language and identity, and stronger partnerships with whānau and communities.
• Expand wellbeing and career guidance in senior secondary school to help young people navigate academic pressure and future pathways.
• Take a whole-system approach to adolescent mental health, combining universal supports with targeted responses that recognise different stressors and experiences.

About Growing Up in New Zealand
Growing Up in New Zealand is Aotearoa’s largest contemporary longitudinal study of child development. It has followed the lives of more than 6,000 children from before birth, including around 1,200 Tamariki Māori, since their pregnant mothers volunteered for the study in 2009.  The children in the study reflect the ethnic and sociodemographic make-up of children born in New Zealand in the early 21st century. Since starting in 2008, the study has collected more than 100 million data points.
 
The data in the study offers policymakers, researchers, community advocates and other stakeholders evidence and insights into child and youth health and well-being in New Zealand.  Children and families have generously given their time to the study. Growing Up in New Zealand is a University of Auckland study funded by the New Zealand government and administered by the Ministry of Social Development.  

About Now We Are Fifteen
Now We Are Fifteen: Navigating Life in Mid-Adolescence brings together new insights from Growing Up in New Zealand participants at age 15, focusing on education experiences and mental health and wellbeing. The snapshots provide evidence to inform schools, policymakers, health services, and communities about what supports young people during this important stage of development.

The findings reinforce the importance of whole-school approaches that foster belonging, strengthen positive peer relationships, support cultural identity, and actively prevent discrimination alongside targeted supports for young people facing greater challenges.

Kiwibank delivered a positive half-year result for the six months to 31 December 2025 (1H26), with net profit after tax of $103 million, up 12% on the prior comparative period. The increase reflected strong balance sheet growth and a more favourable credit environment for customers. It's also clear some customers continued to face financial pressure. In 1H26:        

Lending of $1.8b increased total lending to $37.6b:

• Retail home lending grew 1.6 times faster than the market, increasing $1.3b, reflecting strong demand for Kiwibank’s competitive rates. In the six months to December 2025, Kiwibank accounted for 13% of all net new bank mortgage lending growth, helping 6,213 Kiwi get on the ladder and more than 3,000 to refinance.
• Kiwibank backed businesses and owners with lending of $0.4b, taking total business lending to $8.7b.

Deposits increased $1.4b, with total deposits rising to $31.8b.

Chief Executive Steve Jurkovich said the growth showed more customers were choosing a New Zealand-owned bank.

“In a tough period for many, more Kiwi chose to bank with us. We supported businesses to expand, helped more customers get on the ladder as our lending continued to grow faster than the market, and had strong deposit activity as Kiwi backed a purpose-led, New Zealand-owned alternative,” Jurkovich said.

Net interest margin decreased to 2.18 percent (from 2.29 percent) reflecting the competitive environment and increased cost of funding.

Market-leading value for customers  

Kiwibank remained focused on making banking simpler, fairer and more competitive:

Kiwibank continued to offer market-leading or joint-leading rates across key home loan and deposit terms, ensuring customers benefited from sharper pricing when borrowing or saving.[1]

A new report published today by Dental For All explores eight overseas approaches to oral healthcare and shows another way is possible for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Adult dental care currently sits outside of the public health system, leaving nearly half of the population unable to afford it.[1] The report, titled ‘There Are Alternatives: Analysis of Overseas Models of Expanding Access to Oral Healthcare within Public Health Systems’, is the third released by Dental for All, a group calling for free, universal, Te Tiriti o Waitangi-consistent oral healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“This research draws together examples of how other countries provide oral healthcare and shows how we can transform our approach to ensure everyone has access to the care they need,” says Dental for All campaigner and report coordinator, Kayli Taylor.

The countries included in the report (Niue, Japan, Colombia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Brazil) all take a more comprehensive approach to oral healthcare and provide publicly-funded care to a wider population. The report explores the benefits of each example and lessons for Aotearoa New Zealand. Research work was done by a researcher and a dentist with the support of the Dental for All team. It included desk research and conversations with oral health professionals working in these countries, or familiar with their contexts.

“In Aotearoa, children can access funded oral healthcare until their 18th birthday, however adult oral healthcare is fully privatised, making it inaccessible to many. This report shows that there are alternatives; a better approach to oral healthcare is possible,” says oral health researcher and co-author Anne Campbell.

“Rather than being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, the approaches researched for this report show that investing in good, regular oral healthcare provides long-term benefits for individuals, communities and the country as a whole,” continues Campbell.

In 2024, Dental for All released a report by FrankAdvice which found that the social, economic and fiscal costs of people not being able to afford dental care exceed the cost of funding free dental care for everyone.[2] Following this, a 2025 report focused on lived experience and shared ten stories from people who have struggled to access necessary dental care – highlighting the stress, shame and stigma that results from our current approach to oral healthcare.

“There is a strong public mandate to change how we approach oral health in Aotearoa, and we have the economic case and human stories to back this up,” says Dental for All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching.

“People often ask the question, ‘What do other countries do?’. This research provides an answer. We can learn from these overseas examples, as well as local case studies and Māori leadership in the oral health space, to move towards a system which provides everyone the care that they need and upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” says Pilkinton-Ching.

Dental for All will release a fourth report in the coming months which outlines a policy model for free, universal and Te Tiriti o Waitangi-consistent oral healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand, and aims to secure policy commitments from political parties ahead of the 2026 General Election.

The report is publicly viewable here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G29aZ-OFKbYiDDxSFFeX0e6jAt0rLYx2/view?usp=drive_link
and linked on the Dental for All website: https://www.dentalforall.nz/research

[1] In the latest NZ Health Survey, 43% of adults reported unmet need for dental care due to cost, with higher rates of unmet need for Māori, Pacific and disabled communities.

[2] This research finds more than $6 billion in social costs, $5 billion in economic costs, and further fiscal costs (including impacts on the health system) as a result of unmet dental need in NZ adults. The cost of funding free, universal dental care is estimated to be less than $2 billion per year (based on costings published by ASMS, Stuff and the Green Party).