Inactivity
Ethnic differences
Please note: Inactivity data by ethnicity is available only for the population aged 15 to 19, and is calculated slightly differently from the other inactivity data presented in this resource. While the comparisons presented here between ethnic groups are meaningful, it is not meaningful to compare this measure of inactivity by ethnicity with the measures presented by age and sex.
Māori young people aged 15 to 19 are more likely to be inactive than either European or Pacific young people.
In 2007, 12.4 percent of Māori youth were not engaged in employment, education or caregiving duties, compared to 6.3 percent of Pacific young people and 5.8 percent of European young people aged 15 to 19.
| Year | European (%) |
Māori (%) |
Pacific peoples (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 4.8 | 13.4 | 7.8 |
| 2005 | 4.8 | 14.1 | 7.3 |
| 2006 | 5.4 | 12.2 | 9 |
| 2007 | 5.8 | 12.4 | 6.3 |
Source: Statistics New Zealand, Household Labour Force Survey, December year end average.
Note
We encourage you to be cautious about drawing conclusions from comparisons between ethnic groups. Apparent differences (in unadjusted data) between ethnic groups can often be explained by factors other than ethnicity per se, such as the different age, sex, geographical and socioeconomic distributions of different ethnic populations. In addition, datasets vary in the way that they collect and record ethnicity data.
