Ipsos, one of the world's leading market research companies, announces the findings of a new study looking at people’s attitudes to education and the lives of young people. Key findings of the Ipsos Education Monitor 2025 include:

• Mental health identified as the biggest challenge facing young people today. 44% of New Zealanders believe mental health is the biggest challenge facing young people today – significantly higher than the 30-country global average of 33%. Interestingly, however, while half (49%) of New Zealanders described our children’s mental health as ‘poor’, this is significantly lower than the 30-country global average* of 53%.
• Widespread support for banning under-14s from social media. 72% of New Zealanders agree that social media should be banned for children under 14 years old. This is in line with the global average. Support for the ban increases with age, with New Zealanders aged 18-34 less likely to agree with the ban (64%), and those over 65 more likely to agree (79%).
• New Zealanders’ views on the quality of our education system are mixed. 37% rate the quality of the New Zealand education system as ‘good’, while 32% say it’s ‘poor’. New Zealanders’ rating of the education system sits in the middle among the 30 countries surveyed, and similarly mixed views on quality can also be observed around the world.
• Smart phone ban in schools seen to have had a positive impact. Around half of New Zealanders (48%) believe that the ban of smart phones in schools have had a positive impact, while only 6% say it has had a negative impact, and 26% say it has had no impact. Similarly to support for social media ban, the view that the smart phone ban has had a positive impact increases with age.
• New Zealanders pessimistic about AI in education. 42% of New Zealanders believe the use of AI should be banned in schools. This is significantly higher than the global average (37%) and four percentage points higher than in 2023. New Zealanders are also more likely to think that advances in technology (including AI) will have a more negative than positive impact in the future compared to other countries surveyed.
• Gender divide on preferred school subjects persists. When asked about their favourite school subjects, male New Zealanders preferred STEM subjects (including Science, Mathematics, and Computer sciences & technology), while female New Zealanders are more likely to say English, Art, and Foreign languages.

Carin Hercock, Country Manager, Ipsos New Zealand, said: “New Zealanders are much more likely than the global average to be concerned about the challenges facing our young people’s mental health, and bullying and peer pressure, than the global average which is potentially a key driver behind the significant support for a ban on social media for children under 14.”

Amanda Dudding, Executive Director Public Affairs, Ipsos New Zealand, added: “High levels of reservation continue around the usage of AI in New Zealand with a large proportion of the population against the use of AI in schools and New Zealanders more likely to think that advances in AI will have a more negative than positive impact”

For a full copy of the report please visit our website https://www.ipsos.com/en-nz

Note:

Ipsos interviewed 23,700 people online between June 20, 2025 and July 4, 2025 in 30 countries. Quotas were set to ensure representativeness and data have been weighted to the known population profile of each country. The sample consists of approximately 2,000 individuals in Japan, 1,000 individuals each in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Türkiye. The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online.

In New Zealand, Ipsos interviewed a total of 1,002 New Zealanders aged 18+ between August 11 and August 18, 2025.

About Ipsos:

Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating 
in 90 markets and employing nearly 20,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 business solutions are based on primary data from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques.

“Game Changers” – our tagline – summarizes our ambition to help our 5,000 clients navigate with confidence our rapidly changing world.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has been listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120, Mid-60 indices, and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP

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