Technical details

People

Estimated resident population of territorial authority areas, at 30 June 2006–2009

Data source: Statistics New Zealand. These estimates are produced annually and are also available by age group and sex, via Table Builder. http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/subnational-pop-estimates-tables.aspx

Estimated resident population of territorial authority areas, by ethnicity, at 30 June 2006

Data source: Statistics New Zealand. These estimates are produced five-yearly and are also available by age group and sex, via Table Builder. http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/pop-estimates-june.aspx

Subnational population projections are available on Statistics New Zealand’s website. These projections are updated every 2–3 years to incorporate the latest demographic information, including subnational population estimates and registered births and deaths. The most recent update was released in February 2010. It contains updated 2006-base projections of the population usually living in the 16 regional council areas (regions) and 73 territorial authority areas (cities and districts) of New Zealand. These projections are also available by age group and sex, via Table Builder.

http://www.stats.govt.nz/methods_and_services/information-releases/subnational-population-projections.aspx

Health

Life expectancy

Definition: 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.

Data notes: There are three territorial authority areas in this table which straddle regional boundaries: Franklin, Taupo and Rotorua districts. These territorial authority areas are listed under the region where most of their population lives.

Data source: Statistics New Zealand (2009) New Zealand Life Tables: 2005–07, Table 4.01 and Table 2.01. The data for regional council areas and territorial authority areas is from the abridged life tables. The data for the total population is from the complete life tables.

Cigarette smoking

Definition: The proportion of the population aged 15 years and over who currently smoke cigarettes.

Data notes: The data is age-standardised to the World Health Organization standard population.

Data source: Statistics New Zealand, Census of Population and Dwellings; age-standardised rates derived by the Ministry of Social Development.

Knowledge and skills

Participation in early childhood education

Definition: The percentage of new school entrants (Year 1 students) who had attended early childhood education services.

Services included are: kindergartens, playcentres, education and care services, te kōhanga reo and home-based services. The Correspondence School is not included as it covers multiple regions.

Data notes: The data does not provide information on the length of participation or on the quality of the programmes, both of which are relevant to positive educational outcomes.

Data source: Ministry of Education, Education Counts website, Student Participation, Prior participation in early childhood education: new entrants. Additional data by ethnic group for regional council and territorial authority areas is available from the same source. http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/indicators/student_participation/early_childhood_education/1931

School leavers with higher qualifications

Definition: The proportion of secondary school leavers who left school with a qualification at National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 or above.

Data notes: The data refers to the territorial authority area in which the school is located, not the residential location of students. The school leaver data collection was changed as a result of the introduction of NCEA in 2002.

Data source: Ministry of Education, Education Counts website, Education and Learning, Qualifications, School leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above. Additional data by sex and ethnic group for regional council and territorial authority areas is available from the same source. http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/indicators/education_and_learning_outcomes/qualifications/1781

Educational attainment of the adult population

Definition: The proportion of 25–64 year olds with at least upper secondary school education, defined in the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997) as Level 3 and above. This includes any qualification including and above School Certificate in one or more subjects.

Tertiary is based on ISCED Level 5A/6 and above and includes a post-graduate degree, certificate or diploma, and a bachelor’s degree.

Data source: Statistics New Zealand, customised census data.

Paid work

Satisfaction with work-life balance*

Definition: The proportion of employed people who are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their work-life balance, as reported in the Quality of Life Survey 2008.

Data notes: The Quality of Life Survey 2008 was commissioned by 12 of New Zealand’s cities and districts, in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, to monitor trends in wellbeing. The total (national) sample size in the survey was 8,100 with 500 interviews in each of the 12 cities and districts for which data is provided, and 2,100 across other parts of New Zealand. The response rate was 37 percent.

The data is based on a sample survey and is therefore subject to sampling error. Because the response rate to the survey was relatively low, there is a risk of a non-response bias and data should be used with caution.

Subjective measures of wellbeing reflect people’s perceptions of their own situation, which may differ from their objective status.

*This information relates only to the “big cities” (Rodney District; North Shore City; Waitakere City; Auckland City; Manukau City; Hamilton City; Tauranga City; Porirua City; Hutt City (Lower Hutt); Wellington City; Christchurch City; and Dunedin City).

Data source: Quality of Life Survey 2008, prepared for the Quality of Life Project Team and the Ministry of Social Development by The Nielsen Company.

Economic standard of living

Population with low incomes

Definition: The proportion of people living in households with real gross income less than 60 percent of the median household equivalised national gross income benchmarked at 2001. This allows for an assessment of the number of people living in households with low incomes both at the benchmark period (2001) and in earlier or later periods.

Data notes: Households were used for this exercise rather than families because they are consistently defined over the census periods provided. Household incomes were equivalised using the Revised Jensen Equivalence Scale. This makes an allowance for the impact of household size and structure on income. Incomes for the 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2006 censuses were inflation-adjusted to provide real gross income, so accurate comparisons can be made between each census. The non-response to the census question on which the table is based was quite high, which may affect the results.

Data source: Statistics New Zealand, customised census data.

Household crowding

Definition: The proportion of the population living in crowded housing (ie requiring one or more additional bedrooms, as defined by the Canadian Crowding Index).

Data notes: The Canadian National Occupancy standard sets the bedroom requirements of a household according to the following compositional criteria: • there should be no more than two people per bedroom • parents or couples share a bedroom • children under 5 years, either of the same or of the opposite sex, may reasonably share a bedroom • children under 18 years of the same sex may reasonably share a bedroom • a child aged 5–17 years should not share a bedroom with a child aged under 5 years of the opposite sex • single adults 18 years and over and any unpaired children require a separate bedroom. There is no contemporary official statistic or index of household crowding in New Zealand. The Canadian Crowding Index is used here as it is sensitive to both household size and composition. The measure sets a bedroom requirement for households based on precise criteria.

The Canadian Crowding Index is not an objective index of crowding. The extent to which household members see themselves as living in crowded circumstances depends on many factors, including social and cultural expectations. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed households requiring one or more additional bedrooms (based on the Canadian index) suffer negative social outcomes.

Data source: Statistics New Zealand, customised census data.

Civil and political rights

Voter turnout – local authority elections

Definition: The proportion of all enrolled electors (both resident and ratepayer) who cast a vote in local authority elections for territorial authorities.

Data notes: To be eligible to vote a person must be at least 18 years old and meet residential and certain other criteria. Data is for contested elections (where positions are not contested no election is held). If “n/a” appears in the data table this means an election was not held for that territorial authority in that year.

Data source: Department of Internal Affairs (2009) Local Authority Election Statistics, and customised data.

Representation of women in local government

Definition: The percentage of elected territorial authority members who are women, in territorial authority elections.

Data notes: If “n/a” appears in the data table this means an election was not held for that territorial authority in that year.

Data source: Department of Internal Affairs (2009) Local Authority Election Statistics, and customised data.

Cultural identity

Māori language speakers

Definition: The number of Māori who reported in the five-yearly population census they could hold a conversation about everyday things in Māori, as a proportion of the Māori population.

Data notes: The census data comes from a single question about conversational language ability. It relies on self-assessment rather than on a measurement of the actual level of fluency in the population.

Data source: Statistics New Zealand, customised census data.

Leisure and recreation

Satisfaction with leisure time*

Definition: The proportion of people aged 15 years and over who are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their leisure time, as reported in the Quality of Life Survey 2008.

Data notes: For information about the Quality of Life Survey, see Satisfaction with work-life balance.

The data is based on a sample survey and is therefore subject to sampling error. Because the response rate to the survey was relatively low, there is a risk of a non-response bias and data should be used with caution.

Subjective measures of wellbeing reflect people’s perceptions of their own situation, which may differ from their objective status.

*This information relates only to the “big cities” (Rodney District; North Shore City; Waitakere City; Auckland City; Manukau City; Hamilton City; Tauranga City; Porirua City; Hutt City (Lower Hutt); Wellington City; Christchurch City; and Dunedin City).

Data source: Quality of Life Survey 2008, prepared for the Quality of Life Project Team and the Ministry of Social Development by The Nielsen Company.

Participation in physical activity*

Definition: The proportion of the population aged 15 years and over who met physical activity guidelines (ie were physically active for at least 30 minutes a day on five or more days over the last week), as reported in the Quality of Life Survey 2008.

Data notes: This indicator complements data from Sport and Recreation New Zealand’s 2007/2008 Active New Zealand Survey used for regional councils, and data from the Ministry of Health’s New Zealand Health Survey used in the main social report. While the results from all three surveys are similar at the national level, the Quality of Life Survey, relative to the other two surveys, shows a more positive picture for women and those aged over 65 years.

For information about the Quality of Life Survey, see Satisfaction with work-life balance.

The data is based on a sample survey and is therefore subject to sampling error. Because the response rate to the survey was relatively low, there is a risk of a non-response bias and data should be used with caution.

Subjective measures of wellbeing reflect people’s perceptions of their own situation, which may differ from their objective status.

*This information relates only to the “big cities” (Rodney District; North Shore City; Waitakere City; Auckland City; Manukau City; Hamilton City; Tauranga City; Porirua City; Hutt City (Lower Hutt); Wellington City; Christchurch City; and Dunedin City).

Data source: Quality of Life Survey 2008, prepared for the Quality of Life Project Team and the Ministry of Social Development by The Nielsen Company.

Safety

Perceptions of safety – in the local neighbourhood after dark*

Definition: The proportion of people who reported they felt “a bit unsafe” or “very unsafe” in their local neighbourhood after dark, as reported in the Quality of Life Survey 2008.

Data notes: For information about the Quality of Life Survey, see Satisfaction with work-life balance.

The data is based on a sample survey and is therefore subject to sampling error. Because the response rate to the survey was relatively low, there is a risk of a non-response bias and data should be used with caution.

Subjective measures of wellbeing reflect people’s perceptions of their own situation, which may differ from their objective status.

*This information relates only to the “big cities” (Rodney District; North Shore City; Waitakere City; Auckland City; Manukau City; Hamilton City; Tauranga City; Porirua City; Hutt City (Lower Hutt); Wellington City; Christchurch City; and Dunedin City).

Data source: Quality of Life Survey 2008, prepared for the Quality of Life Project Team and the Ministry of Social Development by The Nielsen Company.

Road casualties

Definition: The number of people killed or injured in motor vehicle crashes per 100,000 of the population. Pedestrians or cyclists killed or injured by motor vehicles are included.

Data notes: Road casualty data comes from two main sources: injury data from the traffic crash reports completed by police officers who attend the fatal and injury crashes; and mortality and hospitalisation data from the Ministry of Health. Because the number of deaths in most areas is small, deaths and injuries have been combined into a single casualty rate.

Data source: Ministry of Transport New Zealand, customised data.

Social connectedness

Telephone and internet access in the home

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

Data notes: This data is collected at the household level, not at the individual or family level. The circumstances of each individual or family in a household may differ.

Data source: Statistics New Zealand, customised census data.

Trust in others*

Definition: The proportion of the population aged 15 years and over reporting that people can “almost always” or “usually” be trusted, in the Quality of Life Survey 2008.

Data notes: For information about the Quality of Life Survey, see Satisfaction with work-life balance.

The data is based on a sample survey and is therefore subject to sampling error. Because the response rate to the survey was relatively low, there is a risk of a non-response bias and data should be used with caution.

Subjective measures of wellbeing reflect people’s perceptions of their own situation, which may differ from their objective status.

*This information relates only to the “big cities” (Rodney District; North Shore City; Waitakere City; Auckland City; Manukau City; Hamilton City; Tauranga City; Porirua City; Hutt City (Lower Hutt); Wellington City; Christchurch City; and Dunedin City).

Data source: Quality of Life Survey 2008, prepared for the Quality of Life Project Team and the Ministry of Social Development by The Nielsen Company.

Loneliness*

Definition: The proportion of people who, in the last 12 months, have felt lonely or isolated “always”, “most of the time”, or “sometimes”, as reported in the Quality of Life Survey 2008.

Data notes: For information about the Quality of Life Survey, see Satisfaction with work-life balance.

The data is based on a sample survey and is therefore subject to sampling error. Because the response rate to the survey was relatively low, there is a risk of a non-response bias and data should be used with caution.

Subjective measures of wellbeing reflect people’s perceptions of their own situation, which may differ from their objective status.

*This information relates only to the “big cities” (Rodney District; North Shore City; Waitakere City; Auckland City; Manukau City; Hamilton City; Tauranga City; Porirua City; Hutt City (Lower Hutt); Wellington City; Christchurch City; and Dunedin City).

Data source: Quality of Life Survey 2008, prepared for the Quality of Life Project Team and the Ministry of Social Development by The Nielsen Company.