The distribution of social wellbeing in New Zealand
Outcomes for Māori and Pacific peoples have improved since the
mid-1990s against most of the indicators for which we have time-series
data. This includes longer life expectancy, reduced rates of suicide
(data for Māori population only), and higher rates of participation in
early childhood and tertiary education. Unemployment and employment
rates have also improved.
The proportion of families with a Māori adult with low income
dropped from 32 percent in 2001 to 24 percent in 2004, and the
proportion spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing
costs declined from 32 percent to 21 percent over the same period.
While the proportion of families with a Pacific adult with low income
has changed little since 2001, the proportion spending more than 30
percent of their income on housing costs has dropped sharply from 41
percent to 23 percent.
As with the rest of the population, rates of obesity have
grown since 1997, and there has been no improvement in the number of
child maltreatment deaths (data for Māori population only).
Against many of these indicators, improvements for Māori have
been greater than for Europeans/Pākehā. This includes indicators of
life expectancy, suicide, participation in early childhood and tertiary
education, school leavers with higher qualifications, employment,
unemployment, low incomes and housing affordability. While the effect
of this has been to reduce the disparity in outcomes between the Māori
and Pākehā/European populations, indicators of wellbeing for Māori are
still relatively poor in a number of areas, and in particular Health,
Paid Work and Economic Standard of Living. This is illustrated in
Figure CO2.
Figure CO2 Social wellbeing for Māori, relative to
Europeans/Pākehā
Interpreting "Social wellbeing for Māori, relative to
Europeans/Pākehā"
The circle represents average outcomes for Europeans/Pākehā
against each indicator and the spokes represent outcomes for Māori.
Where a spoke falls outside of the circle this means outcomes for Māori
are better than for Europeans/Pākehā; the further the spoke is from the
circle the more pronounced the difference. Where a spoke falls within
the circle, outcomes for Māori are worse than for Europeans/Pākehā; the
further the spoke is from the circle the more pronounced this effect.
There are, however, some important limitations on this style of
presentation. In particular, we cannot directly compare the size of
changes for different indicators.
Improvements for Pacific peoples have been greater than for
Europeans/Pākehā for a smaller number of indicators, including housing
affordability, median hourly earnings, and participation in early
childhood education. However, as shown in Figure CO3, outcomes for
Pacific peoples are still relatively poor against the large majority of
indicators.
Figure CO3 Social wellbeing for Pacific peoples,
relative to Europeans/ Pākehā
Interpreting "Social wellbeing for Pacific peoples, relative
to Europeans/Pākehā"
The circle represents average outcomes for Europeans/Pākehā
against each indicator and the spokes represent outcomes for Pacific
peoples. Where a spoke falls outside of the circle this means outcomes
for Pacific peoples are better than for Europeans/Pākehā; the further
the spoke is from the circle the more pronounced the difference. Where
a spoke falls within the circle, outcomes for Pacific peoples are worse
than for Europeans/Pākehā; the further the spoke is from the circle the
more pronounced this effect. There are, however, some important
limitations on this style of presentation. In particular, we cannot
directly compare the size of changes for different indicators.
The limited set of indicators that enables us to look at the
outcomes for people who identify with ethnicities other than
European/Pākehā, Māori or Pacific peoples show a mixed picture.
People who identify with an ethnic group other than
European/Pākehā, Māori or Pacific peoples tend to perform well on
average in the area of Knowledge and Skills, and have relatively low
rates of smoking. While employment, unemployment and median hourly
earnings outcomes for people in this group are better than for the
Māori and Pacific populations, they are not as good as for
Pākehā/Europeans.
Families with an adult of "Other" ethnicity were the only
group to experience an increase in the proportion of people on low
incomes and in the proportion of people spending more than 30 percent
of their income on housing between 2001 and 2004. Outcomes for this
group are now worse for these two indicators than for any other ethnic
group.
Women have significantly lower representation in Parliament
than men and are less likely than men to feel safe in their
communities. Unemployment rates are slightly higher among women than
men, and women are more likely to have low living standards and lower
median hourly earnings. However, growth in real median hourly earnings
since 1997 for women has been double the growth rate experienced by
men. Since the mid-1990s, the employment rate gap between males and
females has narrowed. While between the mid-1990s and 2001 women were
slightly more likely than men to be on low incomes and to be spending
more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, by 2004 these
differences in outcomes had virtually disappeared. Rates of obesity are
higher among the female population, but this gap has narrowed due to a
growth in male obesity rates since 1997.
Men have higher rates of suicide and lower life expectancy and
health expectancy than women. The sex gap in outcomes for life
expectancy and suicide has narrowed since the mid-1990s, but has
increased for health expectancy. Men are more likely than women to
experience a workplace or road traffic injury, and are less likely than
women to leave school with higher qualifications or to participate in
tertiary study. The gap in outcomes for these last two indicators has
widened over the past decade.
Figure CO4 Social wellbeing for women, relative to men
Interpreting "Social wellbeing for women, relative to men"
The circle represents average outcomes for men against each
indicator and the spokes represent outcomes for women. Where a spoke
falls outside of the circle this means outcomes for women are better
than for men; the further the spoke from the circle the more pronounced
the difference. Where a spoke falls within the circle outcomes for
women are worse than for men; the further the spoke is from the circle
the more pronounced this effect. There are, however, some important
limitations on this style of presentation. In particular, we cannot
directly compare the size of changes for different indicators.
The proportion of children living in low-income families
declined from 27 percent in 2001 to 21 percent in 2004. Child poverty
rates are still higher, however, than for the rest of the population
(19 percent) and other indicators show children are more likely than
adults to live in families with low living standards, families that are
spending more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing, and families
living in crowded housing.
Younger people are considerably more likely to experience
criminal victimisation and road casualties, and are more than twice as
likely as older age groups to be unemployed.
People aged 65 and over have relatively good outcomes in the
Economic Standard of Living domain. They also have lower rates of
obesity, smoking and suicide than young people. However, older people
are less likely to have higher qualifications, to participate in family
activities, or to participate in cultural activities.
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