New Zealanders think life is getting tougher with child abuse, the environment and the cost of living topping concerns, a new survey shows.
The Colmar Brunton State of the Nation survey, commissioned by Cigna Life Insurance, surveyed 1000 New Zealanders aged 16-years and older about life in general.
It also sought views on insurance as the company seeks to tailor products to potential clients.
The majority of respondents - 64 per cent - said life was getting harder while just 9 per cent thought the opposite.
People aged 40-49 were most pessimistic with 76 per cent of that group reflecting the negative view.
The highest concern for 94 per cent of respondents across all age groups was child abuse, followed by the environment (91 per cent) and the cost of living (86 per cent).
Those three key concerns were followed by:
* security of personal information 84 per cent;
* housing affordability 74 per cent;
* income protection due to accident or illness 70 per cent;
* climate change 67 per cent;
* saving for retirement 66 per cent;
* getting cancer 65 per cent;
* providing for family in the event of death 63 per cent.
Middle-aged people were more pessimistic about life and more concerned about climate change than younger people, but teenagers feared getting cancer more than their elders.
About half of the 15-19 age group intended to get life insurance at some point.
The survey also found 70 per cent of New Zealanders were concerned about protecting their income and standard of living if they were off work due to sickness or accident, but only 33 per cent had Income Protection insurance.
