Everyone knows the cost of living has climbed. But here's what the official data shows: the number of taxable income sources held by Kiwis aged 40 to 44 jumped from 2.57 million in 2020 to 2.89 million in 2024. That's 320,000 additional income sources in just four years.

This isn't a population boom. New Zealand added roughly 100,000 people to this age bracket over the same period. The gap between population growth and income source growth tells a different story: people in their early forties are collecting more income streams than ever before.

Some of this is the gig economy at work. A salaried project manager drives Uber on weekends. A teacher sells lesson plans online. A tradie picks up contract work between jobs. But some of it is less voluntary. When your mortgage repayments jump $400 a fortnight and your grocery bill climbs $80 a week, one income stops being enough.

The acceleration is striking. Between 2000 and 2019, this age group's income sources grew at a relatively steady clip, rising from about 1.8 million to 2.4 million. Then came the pandemic, the housing boom, and inflation. The growth rate doubled. In the four years from 2020 to 2024, the increase was 12.3 percent. In the four years before that, it was just 6.8 percent.

This is the age where financial pressure peaks. You're likely paying a mortgage, raising kids, and saving for retirement all at once. Your parents might need help. Your children definitely do. You're at your earning peak, but also at your spending peak. And now, increasingly, you're at your second-job peak.

The data doesn't break down what these extra income sources are. It counts wages, self-employment, investment income, rental income, and anything else the IRD taxes. But the trend is unmistakable: the forty-somethings who were supposed to be settling into their careers are instead diversifying their income streams out of necessity.

By 2024, the average person in this age bracket held more than one taxable income source. Some hold two, three, or more. The stability that previous generations enjoyed at this life stage is being replaced by portfolio careers, side hustles, and whatever else it takes to make the numbers work. (Source: Stats NZ, taxable-income-sources)