Ethnicity
Sophie Davies
Public
Seen by 436
Ethnicity is the ethnic group or groups a person identifies with or has a sense of belonging to. It is a measure of cultural affiliation (in contrast to race, ancestry, nationality, or citizenship). Ethnicity is self-perceived and a person can belong to more than one ethnic group.
The census provides a baseline count for all official ethnicity statistics and is widely used with other demographic characteristics to inform research and policy development. Collecting ethnicity information in the census is required under the Statistics Act 1975.
We initiated a Review of the Official Ethnicity Statistical Standard (ROESS) in 2008 to understand the increase in written responses of 'New Zealander', from 2.4 percent in the 2001 Census to 11.1 percent in the 2006 Census. This review found an almost universal view amongst customers (users of the data) that the format of the census ethnicity question should remain unchanged. This is because of the applied use of the data and the requirement to measure across time.
Following this review, the Government Statistician decided there would be no change to the ethnicity question for the 2013 Census. We also decided that ‘New Zealander’ responses received on the 2013 Census form would continue to be reported under the ‘other ethnicity’ category.As was the case in 2006, we also published the number of ‘New Zealanders’ within the ‘other ethnicity’ category.
Responses of ‘New Zealander’ have fallen since 2006, at 1.6 percent in the 2013 Census.
Our current recommendations relating to ethnicity
- We recommend that ethnicity be included with no changes in the 2018 Census.
See our preliminary view of 2018 Census content (pages 24-25) for a more detailed discussion on ethnicity information
See 2013 Census information by variable for information on the ethnicity variable
Guy Marriage Mon 4 May 2015 5:34AM
Which is why I keep saying that the question is conflating two separate things. Ethnicity is one thing. Socio-political nationhood is completely separate.
Mike Clement Thu 7 May 2015 1:42AM
@Kate identifying ourselves as New Zealanders isn't useless, it shows we have formed our own national identity and recognised that we are our own ethnic group.
Government policies should not be set on what race/ethnic group people are, they should be targeted at those who actually need them... and that information is better gained from more accurate socio-economic data.
Quentin Smith Fri 15 May 2015 7:44AM
Maybe I could tick other and write first generation Maori ;-)
Catherine Slobodian Sun 17 May 2015 9:57PM
I moved to New Zealand four years ago from Canada. There is no tickbox for Canadian, so I always choose other>and write Canadian. However, when I drill through data, I believe that Canadians are included in the European group. As Canadians we were always told to keep our culture but know that we are Canadian as well. All of my ancestors came from Ukraine (I am/was third generation Canadian) and to be honest you can't lump Canadians into the European category - so many are from Asia, Africa, etc..
Although I am an immigrant, I think it would be great if New Zealanders could identify as being New Zealanders! The birthplace question on the census is also helpful with identification. I believe that New Zealand is a pretty great place to be, and with the immigration policies in place, more and more people are going to come into the country and be diverse. This would be a good time to start recording a New Zealand Category rather than a New Zealand European category - how many more generations do you really want to have that association for?
Taryn Wade Thu 21 May 2015 1:18AM
Would it be simpler to split the question into race and ethnicity ?
Would race data (i.e. White,Asian, Polynesian etc) be more useful for health services ? While ethnicity/cultural affiliation (i.e. Maori , European etc. ) would be more useful for social/community services ? Possibly allowing people to have more than one ethnic group ? So instead of being "NZ European", you could tick both New Zealander + European if you feel your cultural identify is two sided ?.
Quentin Smith Thu 21 May 2015 1:28AM
Country of birth is relevant. ethnicity is completely 100% irrelevant to community/ social services. Those service should only be based on need not on race or ethnicity.
European is not in anyway reflective of my origin (recent) or my community or social needs.
Quentin Smith Thu 21 May 2015 1:31AM
maybe, it should be framed. what is your nationality? then where were you born? where were your parents born? that should be sufficient
Taryn Wade Thu 21 May 2015 1:56AM
Country of birth is already a question elsewhere in the census. However it only give you information regarding immigration. I was born in a different country to my parents who were in turn born in a different country to their parents. However we are all white, therefore my children are more likely to be born with cystic fibrosis than sickle cell anemia.
Tahu Kukutai Thu 21 May 2015 2:19AM
Why should the ethnicity classification be changed to accommodate the dominant group because they can't agree on what to call themselves? Some might say that this stems from a largely Pakeha/white/Euro/tauiwi/kiwi identity crisis. NZr is an identity that we should ALL be able to lay claim to by virtue of calling Aotearoa home. By ethnifying the term New Zealander, it becomes a social marker of difference. Who are the 'real' New Zealanders?
Kate · Mon 4 May 2015 3:57AM
Hi there, ethnicity is such a rich and valuable dataset and is so important for understanding the makeup of our country. It becomes a bit meaningless if everyone starts replying with "New Zealander" (as many did in the 2006 census). At a very basic level, census can show where (geographically) ethnic groups are located and concentrated. This is hugely beneficial data for councils, government, community groups, businesses etc. Some may not realise that ethnicity data is cross-tabulated with other census data (e.g. income data, age) and that different ethnic groups can have different needs. For example, we know that Maori and Pacific Peoples are much younger populations (median age 24 and 22 years respectively in 2013) than the NZ median (38 years in 2013) and that Europeans are older (median age 41 in 2013). Similarly with income data, we know from census that Maori and Pacific Peoples are over-represented in the lower income ranges. Imagine if the majority of people stated that they identified as "New Zealander"- it makes the data captured in the census of much less value and benefit. Please keep status quo!!