Social Report shows how NZ regions perform

18 October 2007
For Immediate Release

Some regions that have historically lagged behind others in areas like income and employment made the greatest strides in social wellbeing between 2001 and 2006, according to the Ministry of Social Development's latest social report.

"New census data has allowed us to update the majority of regional indicators. The majority of indicators have improved across most regions," said Don Gray, head of Social Development Policy and Knowledge.

The report, published each year, charts New Zealand's progress across a range of indicators of wellbeing, from health to employment and education.

"As in previous years, cities do better on average and rural areas, especially in the North Island, tend to do worse."

"Close to all the regions have improved for life expectancy, school leavers with higher qualifications, educational attainment of adults, employment, median hourly earnings, as well as telephone and internet access in the home. A majority of regions also have a reduced number of low-income families."

"Between 2001 and 2006, Northland, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay saw greater improvements than the national average for unemployment. Over the same period, the number of families with low incomes declined most in the three regions with the poorest outcomes for this indicator - Northland and Gisborne again, as well as West Coast."

"The report confirms that, since the mid-1990s, New Zealanders' well-being has improved in areas such as health, education, unemployment and income."

Internationally, "New Zealand is at or above the OECD median for two thirds of comparable indicators, and we are world leaders in the areas of low unemployment and the lack of perceived corruption," Don Gray said.

"The report shows that, although women are generally healthier and increasingly better educated than men, they lag behind men in employment - both in terms of labour participation and income. However, improvements for men in health and improvements for women in paid work mean these gaps are narrowing."

Median hourly earnings for men were $18.13 in 2006. Women's earnings were $2.25 an hour lower at $15.88.

The report also confirms that on average Maori and Pacific people are continuing to enjoy better education, employment and living standards than they did in the 1990s, although not yet at the same level as the average for European New Zealanders.

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