2055 - A First Baby Odyssey

Jacinda Ardern with midwife 'Libby' and the new baby. Photo/Jacinda Ardern Instagram

Jacinda Ardern's baby daughter will live longer, age slower and possibly eat kiwifruit grown in the Wairarapa, according to experts.

Six local babies born at Tauranga hospital this week will share their birth date with the 'first baby' of New Zealand.

With well-wishes and support flooding in from [most] angles, what will life be like for people born on June 21, 2018?

The Bay of Plenty Times gazed into the newsroom crystal ball to gain insight into what New Zealand will look like for the yet-to-be-named Prime Minister's baby when she is the same as age her mother. The baby girl will be 37 years old on June 21, 2055.

Massey University's Professor Paul Spoonley, whose expertise is 21st Century citizenship, said the baby can expect to live to around 93.

"At 37 she'll be only a third of the way through her life," he said.

"She will live longer because she ages slower ... because work is not so physically demanding."

Spoonley said the job market that the baby faces will be drastically different to the one today.

"We are facing a revolution in how we work akin to the industrial revolution."

He said the baby will notice there are a lot of older people around in 2055.

"A lot more of those living in New Zealand will be older. The number of those aged over 65 will be about a quarter of the population."

He said she would also notice that the community is "a lot more ethnically diverse".

"Pākehā are having fewer children. Her cohort will be significantly more Māori and significantly more Asian.

"Probably in her class in school, depending where she is, probably about a quarter will be Asian and possibly as many as 30 per cent will be Māori. If she's living in Auckland, the proportion of that class that will be Asian will be significantly more than a quarter - probably 40 per cent."

Climate scientist Petra Pearce said if the baby visits the Bay in 2055, she may know a Mauao that is a little less tall.

"Sea level will rise about a third of a metre by 2050," she said.

Towards the end of her life, the baby may also get her kiwifruit from the Wairarapa instead of Bay of Plenty, according to Pearce.

"It's going to be warmer, we're going to have more hot days in the summer. The winter season will be less cold."

That will mean a shift in the kind of crops that are grown in the Bay of Plenty, such as kiwifruit, she said.