Latest Social Report 2016 | Previous reports | Contact us
Downloads

Social Connectedness:

Telephone and internet access in the home

Definition

The proportion of the population with telephone access (either landline or cellphone) and internet access in the home.

Relevance

Access to a telephone and access to communication via the internet helps to maintain social connectedness. It enables social contact with friends and family in the absence of frequent face-to-face contact. The telephone also ensures an adequate line of communication in times of need and emergency.

The internet is an important means of accessing a wide range of information and services. People who are unable to access information technologies or who are without the skills to use them run the risk of being excluded from possible social, educational, cultural and economic benefits. This may have adverse effects on their educational outcomes, employment prospects and other aspects of wellbeing.

Current level and trends

In 2006, 98 percent of New Zealand residents lived in households with telephones, an increase from 96 percent in 2001.

The 2006 Census, for the first time, collected information separately on cellphones and landline telephones. It showed that 79 percent of people lived in households with cellphones available in the dwelling all or most of the time, while 92 percent lived in households with landline telephones.

At the 2006 Census, 66 percent of people lived in households with access to the internet, a considerable increase from 43 percent in 2001.

Age and sex differences

There are only minor differences in telephone access by age and sex. Access increases slightly with age, with those aged 45 years and over being the most likely to have telephones in the household (99 percent). However, the gaps between younger and older people narrowed between 2001 and 2006.

Similarly, there are only minor age differences in the level of internet access up to the age of 65 years but the level falls considerably for people aged over 65 years. In 2006, between 68 percent and 71 percent of age groups below 65 years lived in households with internet access, compared with just 39 percent of those aged 65 years and over. However, between 2001 and 2006 those aged 65 years and over experienced a proportionately greater increase in internet access than younger people.

There is very little difference in telephone or internet access between the sexes, although women are slightly more likely than men to have telephone access and slightly less likely to have internet access. These differences are more pronounced at older ages, particularly in the case of the internet. In 2006, 45 percent of males and 35 percent of females aged 65 years and over had internet access.

Table SC1.1 Proportion (%) of the population with telephone and internet access in the home, by population characteristics, 2001 and 2006

  Telephone access Internet access
  2001 2006 2001 2006
Age
0–14 years 94.6 97.6 45.6 69.1
15–24 years 95.3 97.6 47.5 68.0
25–44 years 96.1 98.0 47.0 70.8
45–64 years 97.7 98.6 45.6 70.9
65 years and over 98.4 98.9 16.4 39.2
Total 96.3 98.1 42.9 66.4
Sex
Male 96.0 97.9 44.1 67.2
Female 96.5 98.3 41.8 65.5
Ethnicity
European 98.1 98.9 45.5 70.4
Maori 88.3 94.4 25.3 46.7
Pacific peoples 87.0 95.1 20.4 37.7
Asian 97.8 98.7 61.5 77.4
Other 97.3 98.5 55.6 72.9
Family type
One parent with dependent children 87.3 95.1 27.9 50.3
Two parents with dependent children 96.5 99.1 54.9 79.3
All families with dependent children 93.8 98.0 47.0 71.2

Source: Statistics New Zealand, Census of Population and Dwellings, 2001 and 2006

Ethnic differences

Māori and Pacific peoples have the lowest levels of household access to telephones and the internet. However, they experienced by far the greatest increases in both these areas between 2001 and 2006.

Access to telephones increased from 88 percent to 94 percent among Māori and from 87 percent to 95 percent among Pacific peoples between 2001 and 2006. Telephone access for European, Asian and Other ethnic groups increased slightly over this period, reaching 99 percent in 2006. In 2006, the difference in telephone access between Māori and Pacific peoples and the total population was larger for landline telephones than for cellphones.

Between 2001 and 2006 access to the internet increased from 25 percent to 47 percent among Māori and from 20 percent to 38 percent among Pacific peoples. These levels were still well below those of Asians (77 percent), the Other ethnic group (73 percent) and Europeans (70 percent) in 2006.

Differences by family type

Among families with dependent children, 98 percent had telephone access and 71 percent had internet access in their homes in 2006. One-parent families were less likely than two-parent families to have access to either telephones or the internet, but they experienced proportionately greater increases in access between 2001 and 2006. In 2006, 95 percent of one-parent families and 99 percent of two-parent families had access to telephones while 50 percent of one-parent families and 79 percent of two-parent families had access to the internet.

International comparison

International comparisons show the proportion of households with internet access, rather than the proportion of people living in households with internet access. By this measure, New Zealand compares relatively favourably with other countries, ranking 11th out of 30 OECD countries surveyed between 2003 and 2006. With 65 percent of households having internet access in 2006, New Zealand’s figure is higher than the OECD median of 57 percent. New Zealand’s figure is similar to those of Canada (64 percent in 2005) and the United Kingdom (63 percent in 2006) and higher than those of Australia (60 percent in 2005) and the United States (55 percent in 2003).103

^ top