Appendix 1
Changes to The Social Report 2007
No changes have been made to the outcome domains used in this
year’s edition of the Social Report. Six key changes have been made to
the indicators used in the report. These are detailed in Table AP1.
Table AP1 Changes to the indicators in
The Social Report 2007
| Outcome Domain |
Change |
Knowledge
and Skills |
The school leavers with higher qualifications indicator
now reports on the proportion of secondary school leavers who left
school with a qualification at National Certificate of Educational
Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 or above, rather than higher than NCEA Level
1. This aligns the indicator more closely to the qualifications
framework for upper secondary schools.
The adult literacy skills in English indicator has been
removed from the report as the data is old and not able to be updated
frequently.
|
Economic
Standard
of Living |
The income-sharing unit which forms the basis of the
population with low incomes indicator has been changed from the
"economic family unit" to the "household". This change brings the base
methodology for the indicator into line with international best
practice.
The population with low living standards indicator has
been removed from the report. The Ministry of Social Development’s
review of the population with low living standards indicator, following
the publication in 2006 of New Zealand Living Standards 2004, has
shown the indicator is not suitable for tracking living standards over
time. This is due to the interpretation of any changes being
complicated by the fact that the indicator reflects changing
expectations about consumption, not just changes in consumption itself.
|
| Safety |
An indicator of assault mortality that covers the whole
population has replaced the intentional injury child mortality
indicator. While the new indicator retains information about child
assault deaths, it provides a broader picture of intentional violence
across society.
An indicator on fear of crime has replaced the
perceptions of safety indicator. This is a broader indicator of the
effect fear of crime has on wellbeing and quality of life.
|
A number of other minor changes have been made to some
indicators.
The suicide indicator is now expressed as a three-year moving
average, which removes the fluctuations apparent with the small numbers
associated with suicide statistics.
The cigarette smoking indicator now reports on people aged
15–64 years rather than 15 years and over as previously, because it is
based on a new survey.
The participation in tertiary education indicator has been
changed to include only domestic students and to measure students
enrolled at any time during the year, not at mid-year as in previous
social reports.
The participation in sport and active leisure indicator has
been re-named "participation in physical activity", to better reflect
what the indicator is measuring.
Modifications have been made to the air quality data,
particularly in Dunedin, where a central monitoring site is now used.
|
