Loomio
Thu 21 May 2015 11:28AM

Ratio of Males to Females

FH Frances Horton Public Seen by 241

Hello contributors and Census team,
I'm interested in what the 2018 Census might discover regarding the ratio of males to females in contemporary NZ. What did the previous census reveal?
Is the "man-drought" real? For all NZ regions, or only Auckland region? Is it continuing? or abating for younger generations e.g. Millennials?
Is there a shortage of single men between 19 and 39 years?
If so, doesn't this have important repercussions for young people adversely affected by Student Debt, employment, housing, and income insecurity?
I live in Auckland and the observed numbers of single women compared to single men seems to be roughly 1 male to 5 females in the "child-bearing" years. Is this still true, and will the 2018 Census reveal the numbers?
My apologies for focusing on straight males and females looking for life partners; I do not seek to exclude other groups or offend anyone by this question, based as it is on the established male/female polarity.
I know someone who despairs of ever meeting "the one" and she is thinking of going overseas to find a partner. It's all rather depressing and hard to understand.
NZ seems to export well-qualified young men along with the rest of our primary produce.

LM

Laydan Mortensen Thu 21 May 2015 8:12PM

Have you tried playing around with the NZ.Stat tool on the Statistics New Zealand website? One of the data-sets available breaks down relationship status by age, sex and region/district (under 2013 census > Population).

A

Andrea(facilitator) Thu 21 May 2015 9:58PM

Hi, my name is Andrea Lawson and I am facilitating the topics under 'other'. You've raised an interesting need for the continued collection on the sex variable. Hopefully the information you need is provided in the tools @laydanmortensen mentioned above. Does anyone have further thoughts on this?

FH

Frances Horton Mon 25 May 2015 1:34PM

Hello Andrea and Laydan, thanks for your suggestions about accessing existing Statistics NZ information.
[1] I haven't done this, because historic 2013 statistics are not helpful for the situation existing in 2015, and into 2018.
[2] Also, it isn't helpful to look at male/female numbers. That's only maths.
[3] For example, at present there is an overwhelming number of immigrants flooding into Auckland, of every ethnicity in the world. Half of that number indeed are likely to be male. Most of them are married.
This does nothing to ease the shortage of eligible males for a second generation European New Zealander. It only throws the non-eligibility of newly arrived males into sharp relief against the existing shortage of eligible males.
For life-partnership, It isn't just any male or female that is eligible. It requires the right fit: the right education, social setting, cultural background, and age.
[4] Age, sex and region is no help when the males within the social demographic, age and region one wants are not even here in NZ. They are gone.
[5] If Statistics NZ [via the 2018 census] identify the continuing shortage of young males, is Government likely to formulate policy about NZ's appalling and continuing exodus of young men?
[6] Why has it become so difficult to prosper in contemporary New Zealand that young men won't stay?

Apologies if I've extrapolated a statistic like the sex variable into a social problem and a reality that impacts directly on New Zealander's lives.
Census isn't really about that, I guess.
Or, maybe it is - but the maths gets in the way?

VD

Viv Dostine Tue 26 May 2015 9:49PM

a shortage of males - one persons problem, is another's ideal :)

I'm sure all the women of Syria, Iraq etc would be happy if men disappeared

FH

Frances Horton Mon 1 Jun 2015 10:37AM

Hahah Viv, so true ---- it's all down to perspective! Good call. I still wonder how the sex ration plays out in NZ national life, and how this is reflected in census.