Overview of youth wellbeing

The Youth Statistics resource pulls together some of the huge range of information about New Zealand’s young people that is held or produced by government agencies and academic researchers. 

Its aim is to provide a rich picture of young people in New Zealand – where they are, where they’re going to, and how they are doing. It is descriptive rather than analytical - focusing on the "what" and not the "why".    

The resource focuses on the population aged 12 to 24, and presents three types of information about this group:

About this overview

This overview focuses on indicators of youth wellbeing and is intended for the use of those who do not have time to explore the site indicator-by-indicator. 

It briefly summarises the overall findings of the indicators in each domain included in the resource, and highlights key differences by sex, age and ethnicity.  It does not capture the full picture of young people’s wellbeing – that picture is complicated and highly nuanced, whereas these statistics are (to a greater or lesser degree) collective and aggregated, focusing on broad patterns rather than the diversity of individual experience. 

This summary is descriptive and does not provide any analysis of the information presented in the resource.  The following resources contain relevant commentary that is more analytical in nature:

Domain-by-domain summary

Happy and confident

Most young people are generally confident, positive, and satisfied with their lives.  Most feel that they belong to their school, and most (especially young men) are happy with how they look and with how much they weigh, and feel that they “fit in”.  These trends seem stable.  

  • Young females are less happy with their looks and weight than young males, less self-confident, and more likely to report feeling awkward or out of place.
  • Young Asian school students are more likely to report feeling “like an outsider” at school than young people from other ethnic groups. 
  • Among Māori, young people are less likely to be able to hold a conversation in Te Reo Māori than older people, a pattern which also holds true for the first languages of other ethnic groups.  There is significant variation by region in the proportion of the Māori youth population that can speak Māori, and overall, levels are declining. 

Engaged in supportive and caring relationships

The vast majority of young people are engaged in positive relationships with their parents and friends, feeling that their parents care about them and that they and their friends help each other out.  Most share family meals around a table several times a week (though less so than in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries), and most report high levels of trust in other people.

  • A significant minority of young people do not get enough time with their father (about 40 percent) or their mother (about 50 percent) and a quarter reported feeling lonely in the last 12 months. Only half reported that their parents spent time “just talking” with them several times a week, a lower level than in most OECD countries. 
  • Pacific and European students were more likely than other ethnic groups to report that their Mum and/or Dad cared about them a lot, and Asian and European students were more likely to report that they got to spend enough time with Mum and/or Dad.  European school students are more likely to report that their parents spend time “just talking” with them several times a week, and Asian students are more likely to report that they share a main meal around a table with their parents several times a week.
  • Younger youth are less likely to report trust than older age groups, but more likely to feel close to their parents.  Young females are more likely to spend time “just talking” with parents, and more likely to report supportive friendship relationships, but less likely to share family meals around a table.

Healthy

Most young people rate their own health highly, and most are generally maintaining good health and not engaging in risk behaviours.  Most trends are stable or improving.  However, the overall positive picture hides some big differences in health outcomes by sex and (in particular) ethnicity. 

  • Young males fare worse than young females across a range of health indicators, including mortality, suicide, hazardous drinking, and unmet need for a GP.  However, young males in general rated their own health higher than young females, and they were also less likely to be obese, and more likely to engage in regular physical activity. 
  • Young Māori people were less healthy than the population as a whole, both in terms of mortality and suicide rates, and in terms of hazardous drinking, smoking, obesity, and riding in a car with a drunk driver.  Young Asian people rated their own health more highly overall than any other ethnic group. 
  • New Zealand has a high youth mortality rate by international standards, a high youth suicide rate, and high rates of teen pregnancy.  However, we have a somewhat smaller proportion of daily smokers than most European nations.

Achieving in education and training

The vast majority of young people aged 15-19 are enrolled in some form of education (though participation levels are lower than in other OECD countries), and have access to educational resources in their homes.  Overall they are achieving well at school by international standards, and most leave school with an NCEA Level 2 qualification or above.  At post-secondary age, about a third of 20-24 year olds are enrolled in some form of education.  Industry training participation is on the rise.  The overall picture is positive, but there are some big differences by sex and/or ethnicity.

  • Young females are more likely than young males to be enrolled in some form of education, like school, to leave school with NCEA Level 2 or above, and to hold a Bachelor’s degree qualification at age 25-34.  They are less likely to participate in industry training than young males – only 29.3 percent of industry trainees, and 9.3 percent of Modern Apprentices, are female.
  • Young Māori and Pacific students are less likely to have access to educational resources in the home, less likely to like school, less likely to leave school with NCEA Level 2 or above and less likely to have a Bachelor’s degree at age 25-34 than the population as a whole. Māori and Pacific students have lower PISA mean scores at age 15 than the population as a whole, scoring below the OECD mean while European and Asian students (and the population as a whole) performed above it. 
  • Asian students are more likely than any other ethnic group to like school, and also have the highest proportion of school-leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above, and the highest proportion of 25-34 year olds with a Bachelor’s degree.

Moving towards meaningful employment

Most employment indicators for young people are stable or improving.  Benefit receipt, inactivity and unemployment rates have fallen substantially over the past decade, and employment rates are stable.  The picture is positive for the youth population as a whole, but most indicators show differences by sex, ethnicity and age.

  • Unemployment rates for those aged 15 to 19 are higher than for those aged 20 to 24, and rates of employment, inactivity and benefit receipt are lower.
  • Young females aged 15 to 24 are less likely than young males to be employed and more likely to be in receipt of benefit.  Young females have a lower median wage than young males.
  • Young Maori aged 15 to 24 are more likely to be unemployed than all other ethnic groups, more likely to be inactive, and more likely to be in receipt of a benefit.  However, they have the second-highest employment rate of any ethnic group (behind New Zealand European).
  • Pacific young people aged 15 to 24 were less likely to be in receipt of benefit than Māori and European young people, and earned a higher median wage.  However, they had higher rates of inactivity than European young people, and the second-highest unemployment rate (behind Māori). 
  • Young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to be employed in New Zealand than in most OECD countries, and less likely to be unemployed or inactive.

Economically secure

Most young people in New Zealand enjoy a good standard of living in financially secure households.  However, a significant minority face disadvantage, and Maori and Pacific young people are over-represented in this group.

  • Young people are more likely than older age groups to live in a low-income household, and more likely to live in a household with high housing costs relative to income.
  • European young people are much less likely to live in a crowded household than other ethnic groups, with the highest levels of crowding among Pacific young people.  Pacific young people are also least likely to have an internet connection in the home.

Enjoying recreation and leisure

The majority of young people are satisfied with the quality and quantity of leisure time, but only half feel a sense of community in their neighbourhood.  A significant minority want more activities or spaces made available to them to enhance their leisure time.

  • Young people aged 15-24 are less likely than older age groups to feel a sense of community in their neighbourhood.  They are also less likely than those 65+ to be satisfied with their leisure time, but they express more satisfaction than age groups in the 25-64 band. 

Safe

Young people are more likely to die on the roads or as a result of an assault than older age groups.  Just over half of all young people are victims of crime, about half have witnessed adults in their home yelling or swearing at other adults or at children, and a significant minority report being bullied at school.  Two in five young people feel that fear of crime has a big impact on their quality of life.  There is considerable variation by sex and by ethnicity in these indicators.

  • Young males are much more likely than young females to die on the roads or as a result of an assault, and are more likely to be bullied at school.  Young females are more likely than young males to be the victim of sexual offences, and are more likely to report that fear of crime has a big impact on their quality of life.
  • Young Māori are much more likely than non-Māori to die on the roads or to die as a result of an assault.  Māori young people are more likely than European young people to report that fear of crime has a big impact on their quality of life, and they are more likely to witness adults hurting other adults or children in the home.  Young Pacific people are also more likely than European young people to report fear of crime, and to witness adults hurting other adults or children in the home. 
  • Young European people are more likely than other ethnic groups to be bullied at school, but less likely to rate the bullying as severe.  In line with international findings, bullying at school in New Zealand decreases with the age of the students, with the youngest students most at risk.  

Active citizens

Young people are more likely than older age groups to be positive about the average person’s influence on political processes.  At the same time, in keeping with international patterns, they are less likely to be enrolled to vote.  Most young people are law-abiding and one in ten contributes to their community through formal voluntary work. 

  • Young Māori and young Pacific people are more likely than young New Zealand European people to have engaged in formal voluntary work in the four weeks prior to the 2006 Census.  Young Māori also have much higher rates of youth offending (apprehensions, cases proved in the Youth Court and convictions) than non-Māori young people.
  • Young females are slightly more likely to volunteer than young males.  Young males are dramatically over-represented in youth offending figures: about 80 percent of young people aged 14-24 apprehended by Police are male. 
Summary table:
Indicator Most recent level Variation by age, sex, or ethnicity Overall trend
+ improving
= stable
- deteriorating
n/a trend data not available
Happy and confident
Life-satisfaction 85 percent of young people satisfied or very satisfied with life in general (2006) Young people have slightly lower levels of life-satisfaction than older age groups n/a
Self-confidence 77 percent of young people agree or strongly agree that “I feel confident and positive about myself” (2007) Males slightly higher levels of self-confidence than females; New Zealand Europeans have slightly lower levels than other ethnic groups = stable
Body image 69 percent of young people aged 11-16 agreed or agreed strongly with the statement “I am happy with how I look”, and 59.8 percent with the statement “I am happy with my weight” (2007) Females less happy with looks and weight than males; older respondents less happy with looks and weight than younger respondents = stable
Sense of belonging The majority of 15 year olds feel a sense of belonging to their school. 7 percent report feeling like an outsider and 10 percent report they feel awkward or out of place (2003) Females more likely to report feeling awkward or out of place/like an outsider than males.  Asian students more likely to report feeling like an outsider. n/a
Te reo Māori language speakers Around 25 percent of Māori young people can hold a conversation in te reo Māori (2006) Young people less likely to be able to hold a conversation in te reo Māori than older age groups. Young females are more likely to be able to hold a conversation in te reo Māori than young males.  Significant regional variation - deteriorating
First language retention Varies by language group.  Measured among ethnic groups (other than Māori) who have a non-English language and who have an established resident population in New Zealand Young people born outside New Zealand more likely to retain the first language of their ethnic group.  Older age groups more likely to retain the first language of their ethnic group than younger age group = stable for most groups
+ improving slightly for Asian groups
- deteriorating slightly for Pacific and European groups
Engaged in caring and supportive relationships
Positive relationships with parents 90 percent of secondary school students feel their Mum and/or Dad care about them a lot. 70 percent reported they feel close to Mum and/or Dad and 60 percent reported they get enough time with Mum and/or Dad (2001) Younger students more likely to report feeling close to their Mum and/or Dad than older students.  Pacific and European students most likely to report their Mum and/or dad cared about them a lot.  Asian and European students most likely to report they got to spend enough time with their Mum and/or Dad = closeness stable
Time with parents 55 percent reported they get enough time with Mum and/or Dad (2007) Girls are more likely to feel that they don’t get enough time with their parents. - amount of time with parents deteriorating for girls
Sharing family meals Around 60 percent of young people report sharing a main meal with their parents around a table five times a week or more (2007) Females slightly less likely than males to share a main meal with their parents around a table several times a week.  Asian students more likely than other ethnic groups to report this happening “several times a week” n/a
Caring friendship relationships 89 percent of young people reported they and their friends helped each other out (2007) Young females were more likely than young males to report their friends helped each other out = stable
Loneliness 25 percent of young people reported feeling lonely in the last 12 months (2006) n/a n/a
Trust in others 71 percent of young people aged 15-24 reported that people could almost always or usually be trusted (2006) Young people slightly less likely to report trust than older age groups n/a
Healthy
Mortality The mortality rate for young people aged 15-24 was 68 deaths per 100,000 (2005) Young male mortality rate more than double that of young females.  Māori mortality rates are higher than all other ethnic groups + improving
Suicide The suicide death rate for young people was 15.4 deaths per 100,000 for the 15-19 year old age group, and 20.4 deaths per 100,000 in the  20-24 year old age group (2005) Young males much more likely to die from suicide than young females.  Young Māori more likely to die from suicide than other ethnic groups + improving
Self-rated general health On a scale of 1-100, young people aged 15-24 gave an average rating of 74.6 for their over all health (2006/07) Young males rated their general health more highly than young females.  Compared with the total population, young Pacific people had comparatively low scores and young Asian people had comparatively high scores = stable
Mental health disorder 29 percent of young people aged 16-24 reported having experienced a mental health disorder in the previous 12 months (2004) Prevalence of mental health disorders declines with age. Young females more likely than young males to experience a mood or anxiety disorder.  Young males more likely than young females to experience a substance abuse disorder n/a
Physical activity 55 percent of young people aged 15-24 completed at least 30 minutes of exercise on five or more days in the previous week (2006/07) More young males than young females completed at least 30 minutes of exercise on five or more days in the previous week.  Younger age groups tended to be more active than older age groups = stable
Obesity 14 percent of young people are obese (2006/07) Population prevalence of obesity increases with age. Young males slightly less likely to be obese than young females.  Compared with the total population, Pacific and Māori young people comparatively more likely to be obese, and Asian young people comparatively less likely = stable
Cigarette smoking 76 percent of young people identified themselves as non-smokers (2006/07) Māori young people more likely to be current smokers than other ethnicities.  Significant regional variation + improving
Contraceptive and condom use 63 percent of secondary school students always used contraception to prevent pregnancy and 72.5 percent of school students used a condom the last time they has sex (2007) Contraception use tended to increase with age.  New Zealand European students more likely to use contraception + improving
Problem and hazardous drinking 7 percent of young people aged 12-17 and 30 percent of young people aged 18-24 reported engaging in heavy drinking one or more times a week (2004) Young males more likely to report drinking large amounts of alcohol than young females. Young Māori more likely to report drinking large amounts of alcohol than other ethnicities n/a
Riding in a car with an alcohol impaired driver 23 percent of secondary school students had travelled in a car with a drunk driver in a four week period (2007) Young Māori more likely to have travelled in a car with an alcohol impaired driver than young people of other ethnicities = stable
Unmet need for General Practitioner services 9 percent of young people reported they had needed to see a GP in the past 12 months but had not seen one (2006/07) Young males reported higher levels of unmet need for GP services than young females + improving
Acheiving in education and training
Educational resources in the home For each resource measured, the large majority (80+ percent) of 15 year olds have access – except educational software (to which 69 percent of students have access) (2006) In 2000, Māori and Pacific students much less likely than students of other ethnicities to have access to educational resources in the home (2006 data not available) + improving
School engagement 49 percent of students like school “a lot” or “a bit”, and a minority (12 percent) dislike it (2007) Females more likely to like school than males; Asian students most likely to like school, and Māori students least likely to + improving
Participation in education 73 percent of young people aged 15-19 and a third of young people aged 20-24 were enrolled in some form of education in 2006 Young females more likely to be enrolled than young males; younger youth more likely to be enrolled than older youth; Māori less likely to be enrolled than non-Māori = stable
Apprenticeships and industry training 8 percent of young people aged 15-24 undertook industry training (including apprenticeships) in 2007 Young males more likely to undertake industry training than young females + improving
Reading, maths and science literacy at age 15 PISA combined mean scores in 2006 were:
  • 521 for reading literacy
  • 522 for mathematical literacy
  • 530 for science literacy
  • (2006)
 Lower mean scores for Māori and Pacific students across all three subjects areas = stable
School leavers with higher qualifications 66 percent of school leavers gained NCEA 2 or above (2007) Lowest proportions for Māori student and comparatively low for Pacific students, highest for Asian; higher proportion of females than males.  Significant regional variation n/a
Tertiary attainment 28 percent of people aged 25-34 held a tertiary qualification at Bacherlor’s level or above in 2006 Females more likely than males to have degree; European and (especially) Asian more likely than Māori and Pacific.  Significant regional variation + improving
Moving towards meaningful employment
Employment Employment rate for 15-24 year olds: 58.7 percent in 2007 Higher rates for European young people; lower rates for females. Significant regional variation = stable
Unemployment Unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds: 9.7 percent in 2007 Higher rates for 15-19 than 20-24 year olds; lowest rates for European young people and highest for Māori. Significant regional variation +/= improved since 1998, stable since 2004
Inactivity 6.6 percent of young people aged 15-19 and 7.7 percent of those aged 20-24 were considered ‘inactive’ in 2007 Lower among 15-19 than 20-24; higher among young males; higher among young Māori = stable
Benefit receipt In the year to June 2007 6.8 percent of young people aged 16-24 were receiving a main benefit Higher levels of receipt among 20-24 year olds than 15-19 year olds; higher levels among females; higher levels among Māori and lower among New Zealand European and Pacific.  Significant regional variation + improving
Hourly earnings from wages and salaries In June 2007, the median wage was $11.25 for young people aged 15-19 and $14.19 for young people aged 20 to 24 Median wages increase with age.  Higher median for young males than young females, and higher median for young European and Pacific + improving
Economically secure
Low-income households In 2007, 14 percent of young people aged 12-17 and 17 percent of those aged 18 to 24 were living in a household with an income less than 60 percent of the 1998 median equivalent household income net-of-housing-costs Proportion of population living in low-income household decreases with age.  Significant regional variation + improving
Housing affordability In 2007, 29 percent of youth aged 18-24 lived in households which spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs  Young people more likely than older age groups to have high housing costs relative to income = stable
(rose to 2001; stable since 2001)
Household crowding 17 percent of young people aged 15-24 live in a crowded household (2006) More crowding for children and youth than older age groups.  European young people much less likely to live in crowded households than other ethnic groups, with highest levels of crowding among Pacific young people.  Significant regional variation + improving
Internet access 69 percent of young people aged 12-24 had a home internet connection in 2006 Asian young people most likely to have a connection, and Pacific least likely to.  Significant regional variation n/a
Enjoying recreation and leisure
Satisfaction with leisure time 74 percent of young people aged 15-24 are satisfied or very satisfied with their leisure time (2006) Young people less satisfied than those aged 65+ but more satisfied than middle age groups.  Some regional variation n/a
After-school and community activities Nearly a third of young people aged 12-17 report that they want more after-school activities, and two-fifths want more community places to hang out (2006) Older youth more likely to want more community places to hang out, and slightly less likely to want more after-school activities.  Females want more of both things than males n/a
Sense of community Just under half of young people aged 15-24 agree that they feel “a sense of community with others in my local neighbourhood” (2006) Young people less likely to feel sense of community than older age groups.  n/a
Safe
Road deaths In 2003-2007, the road death rate for young people aged 15-24 was 21.2 deaths per 100,000 population Young people much more at risk than all other age groups.  Young males much more likely to die on roads than young females.  Māori youth more at risk than other ethnicities  + improving
Assault mortality In 2001-2005, assault death rate for young people aged 15-24 was 2.2 deaths per 100,000 population Young people slightly more at risk than other age groups.  Young males much more at risk than young females.  Māori youth more at risk than non-Māori n/a
Criminal victimisation 55 percent of 15-24 year olds were victims of crime in 2005 Variation by offence type.  Young women twice as likely to be victims of sexual offences as young men n/a
Fear of crime 41 percent of 15-24 year olds reported that fear of crime had a moderate or high impact on their quality of life (2005) Young females more likely to report fear of crime than young males.  Young people from Māori and other ethnic groups (here including Pacific and Asian) more likely to report fear of crime than European young people n/a
Bullying at school 6 percent of secondary school students report that they were bullied at school weekly or more often (2007) Experience of bullying decreases with age of student.  Males more likely to be bullied than females. New Zealand European students more likely than Māori, Pacific and Asian students to be bullied. + improving
Witnessing violence in the home In last 12 months:
  • 10 percent of young people witnessed adults hurting other adults in the home
  • 17 percent witnessed adults hurting children
  • 49 percent witnessed adults yelling/swearing at other adults
  • 46 percent witnessed adults yelling/swearing at children
(2007)		 Māori, Pacific and Asian students more likely to witness adults hurting other adults; Māori and Pacific students more likely to witness adults hurting a child - deteriorating
Active citizens
Beliefs about government responsiveness 56 percent of 15-24 year olds agree that government is generally responsive to public opinion.  31.8 percent agree that the average person has a considerable influence on politics, and 24.4 percent agree that the average person has a great deal of influence on the government (2005) Youth age groups more likely than old age groups to express agreement with each of the three statements n/a
Volunteering 10 percent of young people aged 15-24 participated in formal voluntary work in the four weeks before the Census (2006) Levels slightly higher among young females.  Young people less likely than older age groups to volunteer.  Higher levels among young Māori and Pacific people.  Significant regional variation = stable
Youth offending: convictions and cases proved in court 88 cases proved in Youth Court per 10,000 14-16 year olds, and 636 convictions per 10,000 17-24 year olds, in 2006 Much higher among Māori and young males n/a 14-16
- deteriorating for 17-24
Youth offending: apprehensions Apprehension rate for 14-16 year olds: 1,571 per 10,000.  Apprehension rate for 17-24 year olds: 1,640 per 10,000 Much higher amongMāori and young males +  improving for 14-16
- deteriorating for 17-24 (though still lower than 2003)
Enrolment to vote 85 percent of young people aged 18-29 enrolled to vote on Writ Day (2005) Young people less likely to be enrolled than older age groups.  Significant variation by electorate = stable