Society

Tunnels ranking.png

An essential guide to all the holes you can drive through in this country.

All 28 road tunnels in New Zealand ranked from worst to best

trans rights

The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience.

What access to puberty blockers means for trans young people and their whānau

Cd3Zz5No-Hear-Me-Out-PP.png

Yes, they're better for the environment. No, that's not a good enough reason for me to use them. 

Hear me out: You can shove your reusable period products

Stewarts-images-7.png

Student advocates are calling for 'drastic measures' to force the university to take their concerns seriously.

Auckland uni students threaten rent strike over rising accommodation fees

HMH_FeatureImage.png

They pressured me to have children, and I had two. Now they won't lift a finger. 

Help Me Hera: My parents won’t help out with my kids

FP_seapig.png

A big lipped, dark eyed, slimy limp fish. A juicy, elongated orb with 16 little legs, four bouncing from its topside and a mouth pouting with stubby tentacles. A pale, ghost-like squid with maroon markings. Many new friends for you.

Introducing some of our 100 new sea friends

RSV-Explainer.png

This common respiratory virus hospitalises hundreds of New Zealand babies a year, but preventative drugs used overseas aren't funded here.

Why aren’t vulnerable babies being protected from RSV in Aotearoa?

Cost-of-being-April-16-Alnev-2.png

My most expensive clothing purchase in the last year? A $22 pack of Kmart undies.

The cost of being: A skint student waiting anxiously to start a new job

1857-flagstaff-in-foreground3.png

Uncovering the strange and knotty past – and inadequate present – of a grassy hill that sits above Wellington CBD.

A flagpole, a failed space, and a confused history of white fragility

Stewarts-images-6.png

Remakes are never as good as the originals, and that goes for plates too.

Briscoes’ new ‘retro’ collection looks awfully familiar

shortsightedness.png

Shortsightedness in kids is skyrocketing overseas. Is New Zealand next?

Staring down the ‘silent epidemic’ of myopia in children

FlashinLights.gif

The legal and moral debate around New Zealand's best unofficial road rule.

Flashing your lights to warn other drivers of a speed camera – is it legal?

Codeswitiching-properenglish.png

For some people, I sound too Malaysian. For others, not Malaysian enough. 

The Sunday Essay: On code switching and finding my voice

no-frontline-1.png

A commentator recently suggested laid-off public servants should move into frontline work. My response: I can't.

No, I can’t just get a frontline job

HMH_frankensteins-monster.png

Their relationship strikes me as unhealthy and it's making me angry. What should I do?

Help Me Hera: I set up two of my closest friends and bitterly regret it

FP_Garment-Workers-Look-at-Reemi-Period-Underwear-small.png

People in Gaza have been reusing single-use pads and using scraps of tent fabric as period products. Soon, 5,000 will receive a pack of period undies, a washing bag and drying bag.

A shipment of 20,000 period undies is heading to Gaza thanks to NZ enterprise

Eda_Tang_Hair_for_sale-1.png

Eyebrow wigs, oil spills, or Facebook Marketplace: where your cut hair ends up is anyone's guess. 

Do you know where your hair goes after it’s cut?

gymshorts.png

Last week, Gymnastics New Zealand announced an overhaul of their competition attire rules. Now, let's make shorts the universal uniform.

Let everyone wear shorts for sports

Copy-of-FeatureImage-Master-The-Cost-of-Being.png

'I feel tight with everything at the moment, every dollar feels scrutinised. So boring.'

The cost of being: A single parent with dreams of building generational wealth

Acc-Whaikaha.png

It's been 50 years since ACC was founded, and thousands of disabled people are still waiting for the coverage they were promised.

Happy birthday, ACC. Now can we all join the party?

MLITV_Josh-Thomson.png

'I looked over and saw Dai Henwood just shaking his head.'

‘The room went dead quiet’: Josh Thomson on his worst 7 Days moment

market.jpg

When faced with an abundance of radiant, fairly priced produce, I will always buy too much. But I refuse to let anything go to waste.

How to make the most of your market haul

fripoem1.jpg

The Friday Poem: ‘Mitochondrial Problem’ by Evangeline Riddiford Graham

Unity_HemingwaysGoblet-Murdle.png

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending April 18

unnamed-42.jpg

Barcelona's city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? And why can't we do it here?

How superblocks can help reimagine city life

Bulletin-190424.jpg

The government's plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start.

20,000 more on jobseeker benefits than this time last year

strong

 looks at the growing number of people being locked out of the property market – and what that means in the long term.

The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. Read the rest of the series 

We are here thanks to you. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click 

 to learn more about how you can support us from as little as $1.

Side-Eye 39 LOCKED OUT Feature Image 01

The stark reality of trying to get a foot on the NZ property ladder – a new comic from Toby Morris.

The Spinoff

SocietyJanuary 4, 2022

The Side Eye’s Two New Zealands: Locked out

Loading...