Religious affiliation
Sophie Davies
Public
Seen by 441
Data on religious affiliation has various uses. It is used to trace the changes in values and belief systems in New Zealand society and to assess the need for various types of religion-related or religion-sponsored services. Māori, Pacific peoples, and other ethnic groups also use the data as this information is an important aspect of their culture.
However, religious affiliation is frequently identified as a variable of decreasing relevance, most recently in consultations with key census users for the 2013 Census.
There are several reasons why people question the ongoing relevance and inclusion of religious affiliation in the New Zealand Census. Firstly, census data on religious affiliation is not widely used by government agencies or deemed highly important for policy development, evaluation, or monitoring. Secondly, New Zealand is becoming increasingly secular, with just under half of the population either stating they have no religion or that they object to answering the question.
However there is a continuing demand for this data from religious organisations, academic researchers, Māori and Pacific communities, and the media. Without census data on religion, any changes in this significant cultural area would be difficult to monitor.
Our current recommendations relating to religious affiliation
- We recommend that religious affiliation be included with no changes in the 2018 Census.
See our preliminary view of 2018 Census content (pages 25-26) for a more detailed discussion on religious affiliation information
See 2013 Census information by variable for information on the religious affiliation variable
Reuben Jackson Mon 4 May 2015 1:41AM
In England, Jedi is counted in general statistics. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/sty-what-is-your-religion.html
Philip Welshman Mon 4 May 2015 1:44AM
I am an atheist - has that been an option to tick on previous forms? I just can't recall.
I don't care if religious affiliation stays as an option, but would like to see the 'object to answering' stay...
Logan Witchall Mon 4 May 2015 11:34PM
If you list every Religion it would make the form 30 pages longer than previous years. I think if you have the top 10 answers based on the previous Census and a space between for individual branches of said Religion (eg, tick Christian and write Baptist under) and the 11th option being Other for people to put less known (or made up for comedic reasons) religions.
sarah (topic expert) Mon 4 May 2015 11:58PM
@philipwelshman 'atheist' has not been a tick option on past census forms but 'other religion' with a text box has been an option. You can find the 2013 census forms here: http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/info-about-the-census/forms-guidenotes.aspx
Guy Marriage Tue 5 May 2015 1:50AM
@philipwelshman - i thought all Welsh men were very religious? :) (just kidding)
@loganwitchall - not sure if you are aiming at Jedi when you say "made up for comedic reasons", but I assure you that Jedi is taken seriously by those who are...
...these are not the arguments you are looking for...
Logan Witchall Tue 5 May 2015 3:33AM
@guymarriage - Not at all! I just know of people that have put things in for comedy reason in the past cesus. I respect all religions. However your last sentence did make me laugh, in the reference sense.
Phil (Facilitator) Tue 5 May 2015 10:27PM
@reubenjackson asked about the role of this forum and the process for considering change to census.
A formal submissions process on census content will open on May 18 and run until June 30 this year. This formal submissions process will be important for anyone wanting to change the way census measures religious affiliation, just as this forum is important to help us understand the range of views across the community.
Broadly, census will need to balance the need to remain relevant against its' ability to track social changes over time.
Information on the census submissions process is available at
http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2018-census.aspx#formal default
Phil (Facilitator) Wed 13 May 2015 2:00AM
I see the NZ Herald has published an interactive map showing the relationship between religious belief and neighbourhood affluence as measured by the NZ Deprivation index.
The Herald says Auckland is becoming more religious while Wellington is the least, with 5 out of every 10 people in Wellington saying they had no religion.
View the interactive map at
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11447270
Richard Egan Wed 20 May 2015 6:20AM
Tena koutou, my name is Richard Egan, work at Otago Uni (though my views are my own), and am interested in spirituality in healthcare/society (see http://spiritualityandwellbeing.co.nz/ for broader discussion paper). Davie suggested some time ago we live in a society that believes without belonging (ie. we believe in something without religious affiliation). I understand the ‘nones’ are the fastest growing group in the last census. What does this mean? Does it mean people have no beliefs or that the census isn’t sensitive enough to pick them up? (probably latter). So I hope we not only retain the religious question, but ask more questions. Exact figures vary, as we don’t have good population based stats on it, but probably only 10-20% of NZers to church, synagogue or mosque regularly. Yet from some points of view everyone has a spiritual framework (call it existential framework if you really dislike the ‘s’ word). So could we ask about attendance? Could we ask about beliefs and values, and a sense of meaning and purpose?
Max Dillon Coyle · Mon 4 May 2015 1:02AM
I agree with what Reuben said. I consider Christianity and all the monotheistic religions a joke. I don't think my view of their farcicality should impinge upon statistic collection though.