Social wellbeing summary

Summary table

The below summary table provides detailed information on each indicator including current levels, changes over time, demographic variation within the population, and comparisons with the OECD.

Table SU1.1 – Summary table of indicators

Indicator Current level of indicator (most recent year) Changes over time Variation within the population Comparison with OECD
Health
Life expectancy at birth Males had a life expectancy of 79.5 years (2012–14)

Females had a life expectancy of 83.2 years (2012–14)
Increasing over time Lower for males, Māori, people living in deprived areas Above the OECD median for males; slightly lower than the OECD median for females
Health expectancy Males had a health expectancy of 65.2 years (2013); 3.7 percent decrease relative to total life expectancy compared with 1996

Females had a health expectancy of 66.5 years (2013); 3.4 percent decrease relative to total life expectancy decrease compared with 1996
Proportion of years lived independently relative to life expectancy lower than 1996 for both sexes Large decrease in proportion of years lived independently relative to life expectancy for Māori males; smaller decreases for non-Māori males, Māori females and non-Māori females No comparison available
Suicide 12.1 suicide deaths per 100,000 people (age-standardised rate for all ages) (2012) General increase between 1970s and 1990s; decrease since late 1990s
 
Higher for males, youth (15–24), Māori, people living in the most deprived areas Similar to the OECD median. Highest youth suicide rate.
Self-rated health 92.0 percent of population aged 15 years and over rated their health as at least good (2013/14) Higher than previous years Lower for older people, Māori, Pacific peoples, people living in most deprived neighbourhoods Above the OECD median
Psychological distress 6.4 percent of population aged 15 years and over had experienced psychological distress (2013/14) Similar to previous years except 2011/12 Higher for Pacific peoples, Māori, people living in the most deprived areas No comparison available
Obesity 28.7 percent of population aged 15 years and over were obese (2013/14) Increase from 2006/07 but now stable Higher for Pacific peoples, Māori, adults living in most deprived areas, younger adults Above the OECD median
10.1 percent of population aged 2–14 years were obese (2013/14) Increase from 2006/07 but now stable Higher for Pacific peoples, Māori, children living in most deprived areas, older children No comparison available
Cigarette smoking 18.5 percent of population aged 15 years and over were current smokers (2013/14) Gradual decline Higher for males, people under 55 years, Māori, people living in most deprived areas Below the OECD median for daily smokers
Potentially hazardous drinking 18.1 percent of population aged 15 years and over were potentially hazardous drinkers (2013/14) Fluctuates but slightly lower than 2006/07 Higher for males, younger age groups, Māori, people living in most deprived areas Below the OECD median for alcohol consumption (litres per person)
Participation in physical activity 51.8 percent of population aged 15 years and over met the physical activity guidelines (2013/14) Similar to previous years but lower than 2006/07 Lower for females, Pacific peoples, those in the Asian ethnic group, people aged 75 years and over, people living in most deprived areas No comparison available
Knowledge and skills
Participation in early childhood education 95.9 percent of children starting school had attended early childhood education (2014) Steady improvements since 2000 Lower for Māori, Pacific peoples, those attending lower-decile schools Above the OECD median for 3–4 year old enrolment rates
School leavers with higher qualifications 77.1 percent of school leavers left school with a qualification at NCEA Level 2 or above (2014) Sustained improvements since 2009 Lower for males, Māori, Pacific peoples, younger school leavers, those at low-decile schools No comparison available
Participation in tertiary education 10.2 percent participated in tertiary education (age standardised rate) (2014) Declining mainly as a result of declines in participation in lower-level non-degree qualifications Lower rates for males; higher rates for Māori largely as a result of participation in non-degree qualifications Above the OECD median for those aged 20–29 (enrolment rate)
Educational attainment of the adult population 74.3 percent those aged 25–64 years had a qualification of at least NCEA L2 (year ended December 2014) Generally increasing

 
Lower for Māori, Pacific peoples, older age groups

 
Below the OECD median for upper secondary qualifications

 
29.8 percent of those aged 25–64 years had a qualification of Bachelor's degree or higher (year ended December 2014) Generally increasing Lower for Māori, Pacific peoples, older age groups Similar to the OECD median for Bachelor's degree and above
Adult literacy and numeracy skills 56 percent of 16–65 year olds had higher prose literacy skills (Level 3+) (2006)
 
Improved between 1996 and 2006 Lower for youngest and oldest age groups, ethnic groups other than New Zealand European No comparison available
57 percent had higher document literacy skills (2006) Improved between 1996 and 2006
 
Lower for youngest and oldest age groups, ethnic groups other than New Zealand European No comparison available
49 percent had higher numeracy skills (2006) No trend data for numeracy   No comparison available
Paid work
Unemployment 5.8 percent of the labour force were unemployed (year ended December 2014) Recent improvements but rate remains higher than 2007 Higher for youth, women, Māori, Pacific peoples Below the OECD harmonised median unemployment rate
Employment 74.2 percent of the labour force were employed (year ended December 2014) Recent improvements but rates remain lower than 2007 Lower for youth, females, Māori, Pacific peoples; and big variations between males and females in terms of full-time and part-time employment Above the OECD median
Median hourly earnings Wage and salary earners: $21.97 an hour ($23.00 for males and $20.74 for females) (June 2014 quarter) Improved over the last 10 years but slower growth over the last five years Lower for Pacific peoples, youth, females No comparison available
Work-related injury 16.2 injuries per 100,000 workers (age-standardised provisional rate for non-fatal serious injury) (2014) Improved over the last 10 years but more stable over the last five years Higher for males, Māori No comparison available
Job satisfaction 84.0 percent of employed people were very satisfied or satisfied with their job (2014) Apparent increase over the four survey periods available (2008–14) Lower for those with lower personal incomes and material wellbeing Slightly lower than the OECD median
Satisfaction with work-life balance 78.0 percent of employed people age 15 years and over were very satisfied or satisfied with their work-life balance (2012) Improved slightly between 2008 and 2012 Lower for those aged 35–54 years, full-time workers Well above the OECD median for working long hours
Economic standard of living
Market income per person Real gross national disposable income (RGNDI) per person was $47,784 in 2009/10 dollars (year ended December 2014) General increase from the 1990’s until 2007 before declining until 2009 and then improving Not relevant Below the OECD median for per person gross national income (GNI)
Income inequality The equivalised disposable income of households at the 80th percentile was 2.8 times higher than the income of households at the 20th percentile (2014) Significant increase from the 1980s through to 2004, followed by a period of decline then apparent increases but some volatility from 2009 Not relevant Above the OECD median using the Gini coefficient
Population with low incomes 13 percent of the population lived in households with incomes below 50 percent of the 2007 median, after adjusting for housing cost (2014) Improved significantly from 1994 through to 2007, but a flat result since then, although significantly higher than in 1982 Higher rates for those aged under 25 years living in households, sole-parent households Same as the OECD median for the total population
Material hardship 8 percent of people lived in households with less severe hardship

5 percent lived in households with more severe hardship (2014)
Increased from 2007 through to 2011, but has since declined Higher for children, Pacific peoples, sole-parent households No comparison available
Housing affordability 27 percent of households spent more than 30 percent of their disposable income on housing costs (2014) Increased from 1988 to 1998 then improved to 2004, before again rising in 2007 then flattening out (has worsened for low-income households) Higher proportions for sole-parent households, low-income households, the Other ethnic group, Pacific peoples and younger age groups No comparison available
Household crowding 10 percent of individuals lived in households requiring one or more bedrooms (2013) Improved overall since 1986, but flatter results since 2001 Higher for Pacific peoples, people in multi-family and sole-parent households, younger people and those renting and with lower incomes No comparison available
Civil and political rights
Voter turnout (general elections)
 
72 percent of the eligible population voted (2014)
 
General decline over time
 
Less likely for younger people, people in the Asian ethnic group, unemployed, people with lower personal incomes Above the OECD median for general elections
Voter turnout (local authority elections) 41 percent of enrolled electors voted for mayoral elections (2013) General decline over time Not relevant No comparison available
Representation of women in government (general elections)
 
31 percent of elected MPs were women (2014)

 
Relatively stable since 1996

 
Not relevant


 
Slightly above the OECD median
Representation of women in government (local authority elections) 33 percent of elected members were women (2013) Improved between 1989 and 1998, but steady since then Not relevant No comparison available
Representation of ethnic groups in government 32 percent of elected MPs self-identified as being of Māori, Pacific peoples or Asian ethnicity (2014) Continued improvement since 1984 Asian peoples under-represented No comparison available
Perceived discrimination 17.1 percent of the population aged 15 years and over reported that they had been discriminated against in the past 12 months (2014) Not relevant More likely for females, younger age groups, Māori, the Asian ethnic group, unemployed, people with lower personal incomes, sole-parent families, people with lower material wellbeing No comparison available
Acceptance of diversity 42.1 percent of the population aged 15 years and over reported that they would feel comfortable or very comfortable if they had a new neighbour who was from all of the five selected minority groups listed in the NZGSS Not relevant Less likely for older people, Pacific peoples, Asian ethnic group No comparison available
Perceived corruption Score of 91 and ranked 2nd (2014) Little change. New Zealand has always ranked in the top four countries
 
Not relevant Well above OECD median
Cultural identity
Local content programming on New Zealand television 36 percent of the prime-time schedule was local content (2014) General decline since 2006 Not relevant No comparison available
Māori language speakers 21.3 percent of Māori reported that they could hold an everyday conversation in Māori (2013) General decline over time Speakers less likely to be younger No comparison available
Language retention Varied from 13.0 percent of Cook Islands Māori to 85.9 percent of Koreans who could speak the “first language” of their ethnic group (2013) Looks likely that it was reducing for most ethnic groups between 2001 and 2013 Less likely for Pacific and European ethnic groups No comparison available
Ability to be yourself in New Zealand 86.3 percent of the population aged 15 years and over reported that it was very easy or easy to be themselves in New Zealand (2014) Not relevant Harder for Pacific peoples, the Asian ethnic group, unemployed, migrants who had been in NZ less than five years, people with lower personal incomes, people with lower material wellbeing No comparison available
Leisure and recreation
Satisfaction with leisure time 47.6 percent of the population aged 15 years and over felt they had the right amount of free time in the last four weeks (2012) Increased only slightly between 2008 and 2012 Lower for younger age groups, Māori, people with lower personal income, people with lower material wellbeing, employed, unemployed, people with children No comparison available
Participation in cultural and arts activities 85 percent attended an arts event in the previous 12 months (2014) Increase on previous surveys

 
Lower for males, older age groups, New Zealand Europeans, those in the Asian ethnic group No comparison available
58 percent actively participated in the arts in the previous 12 months (2014) Increase on previous surveys Lower for males, older age groups, New Zealand Europeans, those in the Asian ethnic group



 
No comparison available
Safety
Criminal victimisation 13.4 percent of the population aged 15 years and over reported having a crime committed against them in the last 12 months (2014) Decrease over time More likely for younger age groups, Māori, people with lower material wellbeing, unemployed, sole-parent families No comparison available
Fear of crime 60.9 percent of population aged 15 years and over felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark (2014) Not relevant Feelings of safety lower for females, people with lower material wellbeing, people with low personal incomes, unemployed, people not in the labour force, sole-parent families Below the OECD median
Assault mortality 1.3 deaths by assault per 100,000 population (all ages) (2012) Improved since early 1990s Higher among males, youth, Māori Above the OECD median
Road casualties 6.5 road deaths per 100,000 population (2014) Improved


 
Higher for males, young people, Māori Slightly above the OECD average for transport accident mortality rates
248.8 road injuries per 100,000 population (2014) General improvement    
Social connectedness
Telephone and internet access in the household 98.1 percent lived in households with access to a landline and/or cellphone (2013)
 
Steady

 
No large variations

 
No comparison available
82.0 percent lived in households with access to internet (2013) Large improvement Less likely among Māori and Pacific households, sole-parent households, older people  
Contact with family



 
74.6 percent of the population aged 15 years and over said the amount of contact they had with family who didn't live with them was about right (2012)
 
Little change over time




 
Less likely for younger people, Māori, people with lower material wellbeing, sole-parent families

 
No comparison available
Contact with friends 77.3 percent of the population aged 15 years and over said the amount of contact they had with friends who didn't live with them was about right (2012) Little change over time Less likely for working-age people, Māori, people with lower material wellbeing, people in families with children No comparison available
Contact between young people and their parents 58 percent of students reported that they got enough time with at least one parent most of the time (2012) Less time than in 2001, but not much change from 2007 Less likely for Māori, Pacific peoples, people in the Asian ethnic group, female students, people in high deprivation areas No comparison available
Trust in others 68.4 percent of the population aged 15 years and over said that most people could be trusted (2014) Not relevant Less likely for younger age groups, Māori, Pacific peoples, unemployed, people with lower personal incomes, sole-parent families, people born in NZ Above the OECD median
Loneliness 13.9 percent of the population aged 15 years and over reported feeling lonely all, most or some of the time during the last four weeks (2014) Not relevant More likely for younger age groups, unemployed, people with lower personal incomes, people with lower material wellbeing, sole-parent families No comparison available
Voluntary work 30.6 percent of the population aged 15 years and over reported doing voluntary work in the past four weeks for a group or organisation (2012) A small decrease between 2008 and 2010 Lower for younger age groups, people with lower material wellbeing, those in the Asian ethnic group, sole-parent families, recent migrants Above the OECD median
Life satisfaction
Overall life satisfaction 82.6 percent of the population aged 15 years and over rated their overall life satisfaction highly (2014) Not relevant Lower for people with lower material wellbeing, people with lower personal income, sole-parent families Above the OECD median