Contact with family and friends

Definition

The proportion of people aged 15 years and over who said the amount of contact they have with family and friends who don’t live with them is “about right”, as measured by the New Zealand General Social Survey.

Contact includes face-to-face meetings as well as telephone calls, letters, emails, texting, and other forms of electronic communication.

Relevance

Families and friends are key sources of social support and give people a sense of belonging. Staying in touch with family and friends who live elsewhere helps maintain social connectedness between households and across geographical boundaries.

Current level and trends

In the New Zealand General Social Survey 2008, more than 80 percent of people aged 15 years and over had some sort of contact with family who don’t live with them, and more than 90 percent had contact with non-resident friends, at least once in the past four weeks. Of those who had contact, one-quarter felt they had not had enough contact with their non-resident family and one-fifth reported not having enough contact with non-resident friends. A very small proportion (2 percent) felt they had too much contact with family or friends who don’t live with them. This indicator refers to people who said the amount of contact they have is about right for both family and friends (ie the two groups combined).

In 2008, 60 percent of people aged 15 years and over said the amount of contact they have with family and friends who don’t live with them is about right.

Age and sex differences

People aged 65 years and over were the most likely (76 percent) to say the amount of contact they have with family and friends who don’t live with them is about right. People in the 25–44 years age group were the least likely (54 percent) to feel the amount of contact was about right.

There were no statistically significant differences by sex, either for all people aged 15 years and over or within age groups.

Ethnic differences

Māori were the least likely (52 percent) to say the amount of contact they have with family and friends who don’t live with them is about right. Asians were the most likely (63 percent) to report their contact was about right. The difference between Māori and Asian peoples was the only statistically significant ethnic difference.

Table SC2.1 Proportion (%) of people aged 15 years and over whose contact with non-resident family and friends is “about right”, by population characteristics, 2008

Characteristics	Total	Males	Females
Population aged 15+	60.1	60.8	59.4
Age group
15–24 years	57.3	58.6	56.0
25–44 years	53.7	54.5	53.0
45–64 years	60.9	62.4	59.6
65+ years	76.1	75.1	76.9
Ethnic group
European/MELAA/Other	60.6	61.5	59.6
Māori	52.3	52.3	52.3
Pacific peoples	55.4	55.1	55.7
Asian	63.1	63.7	62.5
Labour force status
Employed	57.3	58.9	55.4
Unemployed	51.0	46.6	54.7
Not in the labour force	67.9	68.7	67.3
Personal income (annual)
$30,000 and under	62.3	63.2	61.8
$30,001–$70,000	57.7	59.4	55.7
$70,001 and over	57.5	58.7	54.2
Family type
Couple without children	66.8
Couple with dependent children	55.6
One parent with dependent children	54.6
Not in a family nucleus	61.8
Region
Auckland	64.6
Wellington	55.9
Northland/Bay of Plenty/Gisborne	54.0
Rest of North Island	59.7
Canterbury	58.2
Rest of South Island	59.7

Source: Statistics New Zealand, New Zealand General Social Survey
Notes: (1) MELAA stands for Middle Eastern, Latin American, African. (2) Other includes the category “New Zealander”.

Socio-economic and family type differences

Around half (51 percent) of unemployed people felt their amount of contact with non-resident family and friends was about right, compared to around two-thirds (68 percent) of those not in the labour force. Just over half (55 percent) of people living in one-parent families felt their contact was about right, compared to 67 percent of couples without children. There were no statistically significant differences by personal income; average proportions of people in each income band felt their amount of contact with family and friends who don’t live with them was about right.

Regional differences

The Auckland region had the highest proportion of people (65 percent) who felt their amount of contact with family and friends who don’t live with them was about right. The Wellington region (56 percent) and the combined Northland/Bay of Plenty/Gisborne region (54 percent) had lower than average proportions of people who felt this way.

» View technical details about the regular contact with family/friends indicator

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