In most cases these appliances are individually programmable and a significant number use remote control systems. However, jokes about adults finding programming the video machine difficult if not impossible are common place. Relative to the capital they have invested in the average pool of appliances, households with a busy schedule derive little convenience and functionality compared with what would be economically achievable. Most of the population is urbanised in sprawling suburbs. Most New Zealanders spend a high proportion of their annual mileage commuting to work on increasingly crowded roads and streets.
Public transport is mainly by bus in and out of the city centre and relatively sparse.
This means that in most cases a bus at the right time and place, going to the right place, and with an acceptable trip duration is simply not available for most would be commuters. Access to wholesale overseas markets could reduce such rates substantially but is not available to the average household. Since then, user charges paid by patients in addition to their contribution through taxes have increased, and waiting lists have increased or remained static in most cases. This situation is prompting large numbers of people to secure additional private health insurance. Families and young people increasingly recognise the importance of tertiary education in achieving more secure and better-paid employment.