International Comparisons:

International comparisons: Definitions and Data Sources

The definitions of the measures used for each indicator, the reference years the data comes from and the data sources for the international comparisons are detailed below. The majority of data for the Australian and New Zealand comparisons are from the same sources as the OECD data. The exceptions are: income inequality, where more recent data is available, and indigenous language speakers and satisfaction with work-life balance, where OECD comparisons are not made.

To make international comparisons for some indicators, we have used a slightly different outcome measure to that used in the main social report. Outcome measures for cigarette smoking, educational attainment of the adult population, tertiary participation, market income per person, income inequality, voter turnout and internet access differ from those used to report the outcomes of the general New Zealand population in The Social Report 2007.

Health

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth indicates the total number of years a person could expect to live, based on the mortality rates of the population at each age in a given year or period.

Reference years: 2003–2005 (New Zealand and Australia 2004)

Data source: OECD (2006) OECD Health Data 2006 OECD: Paris.

Suicide

The number of suicide deaths per 100,000 population.

Reference years: 2000–2004 (New Zealand 2004; Australia 2002)

Data sources: OECD (2006) OECD Health Data 2006 OECD: Paris.
Ministry of Health (2006) Suicide Facts: 2004–2005 data Ministry of Health: Wellington.

Cigarette smoking

Percentage of the population aged 15 or more years who report that they are daily smokers.

Reference years: 2002–2005 (New Zealand and Australia 2004)

Data source: OECD (2006) OECD Health Data 2006 OECD: Paris.

Obesity

The proportion of the adult population (normally the population aged 15 years and over) who are obese (Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30).

Reference years: 1999–2005 (New Zealand 2003; Australia 1999)

Data source: OECD (2006) OECD Health Data 2006 OECD: Paris.

Knowledge and skills

Educational attainment of the adult population (upper secondary and tertiary)

The proportion of adults aged 25 to 64 years that have completed a certain level of education as defined by The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-97). For Upper Secondary: (ISCED Level 3 and above). For Tertiary: (ISCED Level 5 and 6).

For more detail see: UNESCO Institute of Statistics (2006) ISCED 1997 UNESCO: Canada.

Reference year: 2004

Data source: OECD (2006) Education at a Glance 2006 OECD: Paris.

Tertiary participation

Percentage of 20–29 year-olds enrolled in public or private educational institutions for study.

Reference year: 2004

Data source: OECD (2006) Education at a Glance 2006 OECD: Paris.

Paid work

Unemployment

Percentage of the civilian population aged 15/16 years and over not in employment who are actively seeking and available for paid work.

Reference year: 2006

Data source: OECD (2007) OECD Main Economic Indicators OECD: Paris.

Employment

The proportion of the population aged 15/16–64 years who are in paid employment for at least one hour per week.

Reference year: 2006

Data source: OECD (2007) OECD Employment Outlook 2007 OECD: Paris.

Satisfaction with work-life balance

The proportion of employed people who are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their work-life balance.

Reference year: New Zealand relative to Australia: New Zealand 2006; Australia 2007

Pocock, B, Skinner, N and Williams, P Work, Life and Time: The Australian Work and Life Index 2007 Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies, University of South Australia: Adelaide.

Economic standard of living

Market income per person

Gross Domestic Product per person adjusted using purchasing power parities.

Reference year: 2005

Data source: OECD (2007) Annual National Accounts, Main Aggregates, Volume 1 1994–2005 May 2007, OECD: Paris.

Income inequality

The extent of the disparity between high and low incomes. The measure used here is the Gini coefficient. Gini coefficients measure income inequality, with a score of 100 indicating perfect inequality and a score of 0 indicating perfect equality.

Reference years: OECD: 1999–2002 (New Zealand 2001)
New Zealand relative to Australia: New Zealand 2004; Australia 2004

Data sources: Forster, M and Pearson, M (2002) "Income Distribution and Poverty in the OECD Area: Trends and Driving Forces" OECD Economic Studies No (34), OECD: Paris.
Perry, B (2005) Social Report Indicators for Low Income Inequality: Update from the 2004 Household Economic Survey Ministry of Social Development: Wellington.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2005) Household Income and Income distribution, 2003–2004 Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra.

Population with low incomes

The proportion of the population in households with equivalised disposable income below 50 percent of the median equivalised disposable income, where household disposable income is equivalised using the square root of household size.

Reference years: 1999–2002 (New Zealand 2001; Australia 1999)

Civil and political rights

Voter turnout

Proportion of registered voters who cast votes in the general Parliamentary election.

Reference years: 2002–2007 (New Zealand 2005; Australia 2004)

Data source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (2007) PARLINE Database, data from the most recent election as of 31 March 2007.

Representation of women in Parliament

The proportion of elected Members of Parliament (lower house if two houses of Parliament) who are women.

Reference year: As at 31 March 2007

Data source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (2007) Women in National Parliaments, Situation as of 31 March 2007.

Perceived corruption

The perceived level of corruption – defined as "the abuse of public office for private gain" – among politicians and public officials, on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean). A country’s score in the Corruption Perceptions Index is derived by Transparency International from a number of different surveys of business people and country analysts.

Reference year: 2006

Data source: Transparency International (2006) Corruption Perceptions Index 2006Transparency International: Berlin

Cultural identity

Indigenous language speakers

Percentage of the indigenous population, which can hold an everyday conversation in an indigenous language.
New Zealand: Indigenous population Māori and language Māori
Australia: Indigenous population Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and languages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, which number over 100.

Reference years: New Zealand relative to Australia: New Zealand 2006; Australia 2002

Data sources: Statistics New Zealand (2007) 2006 Census Statistics New Zealand: Wellington.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2004) National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2002 Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra.

Safety

Road casualties (deaths)

The number of people killed in motor vehicle crashes as a proportion (per 100,000) of the total population.

Reference years:OECD: 2003–2005 (New Zealand and Australia 2005)

Data source: OECD, International Road Traffic and Accident Database 2007

Social Connectedness

Internet access

Percentage of households with access to the internet at home.

Reference years: 2003–2006 (New Zealand 2006; Australia 2005–2006)

Data sources: OECD (2006) OECD Key ICT Indicators OECD: Paris
Eurostat(2007)Eurostat Database: Information Society data [extracted May 2007]
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2005–2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra.

Trust in others

The proportion of the population aged 15 years and over reporting that people usually can be trusted.

Reference years: 2003–2006 (New Zealand 2004; Australia 2006)

Data sources: Auckland City Council, Christchurch City Council, Dunedin City Council, Hamilton City Council, Hutt City Council, Manukau City Council, North Shore City Council, Porirua City Council, Rodney District Council, Tauranga City Council, Waitakere City Council and Wellington City Council (2005) Quality of Life in New Zealand's Largest Cities 2004 Quality of Life Project and the Ministry of Social Development: New Zealand.
Statistics Canada (2004) 2003 General Social Survey on Social Engagement, Cycle 17 and Overview of the Findings Statistics Canada: Ottawa.
European Commission (2005) Social Values, Science and Technology: Special Eurobarometer 225 European Commission: Brussels.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) General Social Survey: Summary Results Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra.

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