Generational attachment

Nau mai haere mai and welcome to the 2018 Census discussion on Generational attachment.

Please see pg 28 of the Preliminary view of 2018 Census content through the link provided above, for the rationale underpinning Statistics NZ current recommendation on this topic, that generational attachment not be included in the 2018 Census.

Statistics NZ welcomes your discussion and feedback on this recommendation, to help ensure that the 2018 Census reflects the information needs of our customers.

The online engagement discussion process will run from the 30th April until the 30th June 2015 (note that this period has been extended from that originally flagged), with formal submissions open from 18th May to 30th June 2015. Remember that your best opportunity for influencing and helping shape the content of the 2018 Census is to make a formal submission. We look forward to hearing your views.

Please refer to my comments made on Ethnicity, which this ties into. It's an interesting quandary. If my parents are from Yugoslavia, say, and yet I am born and bred in New Zealand, does that make me a New Zealand European? And yet that is the same category as someone whose parents were born in New Zealand? But if my parents were born in Samoa, and I am born in New Zealand, I can't put New Zealand Samoan, or New Zealand European, but instead I am just a Samoan. Seems like this category, along with Ethnicity, needs an overhaul.

Thanks for your post @guymarriage The concept of generational attachment is linked to the origin or birthplace of a respondent's parents. In the NZ General Social Survey which collects information about generational attachment every 2 years, information about the generational length of residence a person's family has been in New Zealand is deduced by finding out whether the person /people who raised the respondent were born in New Zealand or not, and whether the respondent was born in New Zealand or not. From this a measure of the number of generations in New Zealand associated with the respondent is derived and their migrant status if applicable - eg: first generation, second generation or third generation. As such we don't derive this information from the ethnicity variable.

But isn't there a fair bit of overlap with the questions about Iwi ? I get annoyed that information is collected about my Maori background, but is ignored (or subsumed) about my Pakeha background. We need to treat all ancestors with the same amount of respect. I whakapapa back to Yorkshire. Just as relevant as to Ngati Porou.

Hi Henriette, I've read the discussion paper, and I am concerned that if the generational attachment issue is not canvassed in the 2018 Census then we miss out on data which could inform government and tax payers about the number of elderly from overseas who arrive subsequently to join family already here, and become eligible for National Superannuation quite rapidly.The fact that these individuals have not contributed to NZ's development or tax-base, but can access it's Superannuation scheme, seems unfair to all who have contributed. This issue is not acknowledged in the discussion, which focuses more on the success or otherwise of migrant settlement. I'm first generation from immigrant parents from post-war UK. Agree, it doesn't seem to matter much now after all these years, but with recent increases in immigration and the openly acknowledged use of NZ as an interim step towards entry into other western nations, I believe the census ought to continue to obtain this information.

Thank you @Frances Horton for your post and welcome to the discussion on generational attachment. Just to clarify the census doesn't currently collect information on generational attachment so the discussion here is about whether a question should be introduced. This involves consideration of information need and what the data would be used for. In terms of providing data about the number of migrants and their potential eligibility for National Superannuation as you suggest, information on generational attachment alone wouldn't necessarily provide this as eligibility criteria such as residency status and the total number of years in NZ (rather than the years since arrival in NZ, which may be different) would have to be considered as well. Reciprocal agreements also exist between NZ and various other countries for superannuation entitlement which affect eligibility.
Are there other potential information needs and uses that people can think of beyond those mentioned in our discussion paper?

A reminder to those interested in the discussion thread on generational attachment that the online engagement process will finish in conjunction with the closing date for formal submissions on 30th June 2015. Please note that your best opportunity for influencing and helping shape the content of the 2018 Census is to make a formal submission. Statistics NZ welcomes feedback on their current recommendation that generational attachment not be included in the 2018 Census.