Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Gender inclusive questions introduced

Gender inclusive questions introduced to better reflect New Zealanders – Media release

24 June 2019

The gender diversity of New Zealanders will be better reflected in future statistics with new information collected in household surveys, Stats NZ said today.

More than 28,000 New Zealand households will be asked to take part in the upcoming Household Economic Survey. Starting this year, the survey will ask people to describe their gender – whether that is male, female, or if they see themselves another way, such as one of many non-binary genders.

“People will have the option to provide their own description of their gender. So, for example, Māori who identify as takatāpui can tell us that through their survey answers. The responses will help us show New Zealanders who we really are,” general manager Jason Attewell said.

Information provided as part of the Household Economic Survey is kept private, secure, and confidential by Stats NZ, as are all survey responses. Individuals are never identified in published statistics or research.

“Until now, we’ve been mostly relying on our survey interviewers to describe a person as being male or female. This hasn’t allowed us to clearly distinguish between sex and gender and doesn’t provide the opportunity for people to tell us if these two categories don’t describe them well. Really, this is information that New Zealanders can best provide for themselves,” Mr Attewell said.

Combined with a question about sex at birth, this information will help to ensure that the transgender population is better reflected in the data collected. This two-step approach is recognised as international best practice for collecting information about sex and gender.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

The survey also asks people how they describe their sexual identity, whether heterosexual or straight, gay or lesbian, bisexual, or if another term best describes them.

“Our statistics should reflect everyone, so along with collecting information such as age, ethnicity, health, and education, this information helps us describe and understand the diversity of society in relation to important topics like income, poverty, and other aspects of our standard of living,” Mr Attewell said.

“This information will also help government policymakers and other decision-makers when they consider funding which affects minority groups. It will also provide important insights for communities who have not yet seen themselves reflected in our data.”

For the first time, people will be able to personally answer these and some other survey questions by entering their answers on a computer screen. Most questions in this household survey will continue to be asked face-to-face by Stats NZ’s interviewers, who record the responses on a laptop computer.

“We acknowledge some of these questions are sensitive for some people. Our interviewers will simply turn the computer around, so people can answer this part of the survey privately. Other core demographic questions, like ethnicity, are also in this self-complete section.”

This is the second large Stats NZ survey to ask questions about sexual identity. The 2018 General Social Survey was the first to ask questions on sexual identity and initial results will be released on 26 June 2019. Those results will be another step towards reflecting the diversity across New Zealand in official statistics.

“Stats NZ intends to include these questions as part of the core demographics collected in all household surveys,” Mr Attewell said.

What is the Household Economic Survey?

The survey measures the financial wellbeing of New Zealanders, giving a picture of household income and wealth. This Household Economic Survey collection runs between July 2019 and June 2020 and results are expected by the end of 2020.

Expanding the Household Economic Survey to obtain good measures of child poverty has more on recent changes to the survey’s sample design.

Here is information released from the previous Household Economic Survey:

Household income and housing-cost statistics: Year ended June 2018

Household net worth statistics: Year ended June 2018

Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2018

The Government Statistician authorises all statistics and data we publish.

For more information about these statistics:
• Visit Gender inclusive questions introduced to better reflect New Zealanders

ends

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.