Relevance
Being able to communicate and interact easily in the absence of frequent face-to-face contact helps maintain social connectedness. Access to telephones and access to communication via the internet, especially emails, are particularly relevant as social indicators because access to mail services is almost universal and fax use is principally by businesses. The internet also makes it easier to access a significant and growing repository of information and knowledge.
Current Level
Access to a telephone is almost universal in New Zealand at 97 percent overall. Internet access is also relatively high at 41 percent, considering the relatively recent introduction of this communication technology.
Table SC1.1 Proportion of population with telephone and internet access by population characteristics, 2000
| Telephone % | Internet access % | |
|---|---|---|
| Population estimates | ||
| Total population |
97.3 |
40.6 |
| Dependent children |
96.4 |
44.3 |
| Age groupings | ||
| Adults aged under 65 |
97.3 |
44.2 |
| Adults aged over 65 |
99.2 |
11.8 |
| Family ethnicity | ||
| Māori economic family |
92.3 |
28.3 |
| Pacific economic family |
88.1 |
16.4 |
| European economic family |
99.2 |
44.3 |
| Other economic family |
96.9 |
50.7 |
| Families with dependent children | ||
| One parent with dependent children |
88.9 |
25.3 |
| Two parents with dependent children |
98.3 |
49.6 |
| All families with dependent children |
96.8 |
45.6 |
| Family employment/income status | ||
| People under 65, main income earner in full-time employment |
98.8 |
49.0 |
| People under 65, main income earner not in full-time employment |
91.6 |
29.2 |
| Adults over 65, with employment or other income (above New Zealand Superannuation) |
99.5 |
18.2 |
| Adults over 65, with little or no other income (above New Zealand Superannuation) |
98.8 |
5.4 |
Source: Ministry of Social Development (2003b)
Ethnic Differences
People living in Pacific economic families (those with any Pacific member) have the lowest telephone and internet access in the home (88 percent and 16 percent, respectively), followed by people living in Māori economic families (92 percent and 28 percent). The highest level of internet access in the home was among people living in other non-European economic families (51 percent).
Age Group And Employment Or Income Differences
Adults over 65 years are more likely than average to have a telephone, but much less likely to have internet access in their home (12 percent compared to 44 percent among adults under 65). Older people with no income other than New Zealand Superannuation have the worst level of internet access in the home (5 percent).
Among adults under 65, telephone and internet access in the home is lower than average where the main earner in the family is not in full-time employment, the difference being more striking in the case of internet access (29 percent compared to 49 percent).
Differences By Family Type
Overall, families with dependent children are more likely than average to have internet access in the home. However, sole-parent families are about half as likely as two-parent families to have internet access (25 percent compared to 50 percent) and considerably less likely than two-parent families to have a telephone (89 percent compared to 98 percent).
International Comparison
New Zealand compares relatively favourably with other countries in relation to access to the internet. In 2000, 14 out of every 100 New Zealanders were internet subscribers, compared with an OECD median of 11. New Zealand ranked ninth out of 26 OECD countries.90
