2001 Census Snapshot – Women

Demographic Characteristics

  • Women comprised just over half of the usually resident population count at the time of the 2001 Census.
  • Women outnumbered men by 105 to 100 in each of the European, Maori and Pacific ethnic groups, but the Asian ethnic group had the biggest numerical difference with 110 women for every 100 men.
  • The sex difference in the population was most noticeable from the age of 70 years onwards: 53% of those aged 70-74 years were females and 79% of those aged 95 years and over were female.
  • More females than males were born overseas: 359,742 females were born overseas compared with 338,883 men. The biggest numerical difference was for those born in Asia where 88,854 females were born overseas compared with 76,920 males.

Study and Qualifications

  • Similar proportions of men and women reported that they had participated in full-time study in the four weeks preceding the 2001 Census (9% of women had undertaken full-time study compared with 8% of men). However, in the prime studying age group of 15-24 years, 38% of women had attended a full-time course compared with 34% of men.
  • The same pattern was repeated across three of the four main ethnic groups: 38% of European women had been studying full time (33% of European men), 27% of Maori women (22% of Maori men), and 25% of Pacific women (22% of Pacific men). For the Asian ethnic group, the proportion studying full time was the same for men and women (43%).
  • Women were more likely than men to report that they had studied part time (8% of women compared with 6% of men).
  • A higher proportion of men (34%) than women (31%) had a post-school qualification. However, in the 20-29 years age group, women were more likely than men to have a post-school qualification (41% and 35%, respectively).
  • Furthermore, 19% of women aged 20-29 years had a degree or higher level qualification compared with 14% of men in this age group.
  • Across ethnic groups, women in the European and Asian ethnic groups were less likely to have post-school qualifications than men (32% versus 36% respectively, and 33% versus 36% respectively), while women in the Maori and Pacific ethnic groups were more likely to have post-school qualifications than men (22% versus 20% respectively, and 19% versus 15% respectively).
  • The most common field of study for women with a post-school qualification was health (22% held a qualification in this field, compared with 5% of men). Another 20% held qualifications in management and commerce (compared with 16% of men), and 17% held qualifications in education (compared with 4% of men).
  • Engineering and related technologies was the least common field of study for women (2% of women held a qualification in this field compared to 33% of men).

Unpaid and Paid Work

Results from the 1999/2000 Time Use Survey revealed that women and men participate in the same amount of productive work, but women do more unpaid work while men do more paid work. This was reflected in the 2001 Census results, which showed that 89% of women reported that they had done work for the household in the four weeks preceding the Census compared with 82% of men. Other findings include:

  • 35% of women reported that they had looked after a child in the same household in the four weeks before the 2001 Census compared with 27% of men. The highest percentage was in the 35-39 years age group, where 71% of women reported that they had looked after a child who lived in the same household (the proportion for men in this age group was 55%).
  • Almost half of all Maori women were looking after a child in their own household in the four weeks preceding the 2001 Census while 43% of Pacific women, 32% of Asian women, and 32% of European women looked after a child in their own household.
  • Women were twice as likely as men to have done unpaid work looking after a child in another household in the four weeks preceding the Census (20% versus 10% respectively). Women were also twice as likely to have done unpaid work looking after someone in another household who was ill or had a disability (11% versus 6% respectively).
  • Many women combine unpaid work with part-time work in paid employment (that is, less than 30 hours per week). Almost half of all the women working part-time reported that they had looked after a child in the same household in the four weeks before the Census compared with 32% of women working full time or not employed.
  • 36% of women in paid employment worked part time in March 2001 compared with 12% of men. Since 1991 the number of women in part-time employment has increased by 55% to reach 287,934 (the number of men has increased 86% to 111,219).
  • 37% of all European women in paid employment worked part time while 35% of Maori women, 31% of Asian women and 29% of Pacific women worked in part-time paid employment.
  • Some 516,378 women worked in full-time paid employment in the week preceding the 2001 Census, representing 64% of all women in employment. Full-time employment rates were lowest in the 15-19 and 60-64 years age groups (14% and 22% respectively) and highest in the 45-49 years age group (55%).
  • Full-time paid employment was proportionately highest for women in the European and Pacific ethnic groups (37% and 35% respectively), and lowest for women in the Asian and Maori ethnic groups (30% and 33% respectively).
  • Women’s increasing participation in the labour force has been one of the strongest employment trends in the post-World War II period. In the 10 years between 1991 and 2001, the labour force participation rate for women increased almost 10 percentage points to reach 60% while the rate for men increased 4 percentage points to reach 74%.
  • In March 2001, women comprised 47% of the labour force.
  • There is a high concentration of women working in those industries that tend to offer more part-time paid employment. 63% of those working in the accommodation, cafes and restaurants industry were women, and 65% of those working in service and sales occupations were women.
  • Health and community services, and education remain the predominant industries of paid employment for women. More than one-quarter worked in one of these two areas. A further 14% worked in retail trade.
  • Women in paid employment were less likely than men to work as legislators, administrators and managers (11% compared with 15% respectively), but their predominance in nursing and teaching occupations means that they were more likely than men to be classified into a “professional” occupation (17% compared with 12% respectively).

Income

  • Women received less income than men. In the year to March 2001, the median income received by women was $14,500, while the median for men was $24,900.
  • Even in the younger age groups of 20-24 years and 25-29 years, the median income of women was between $3,100 and $7,100 less than men. Women aged 20-24 years received a median income of $13,300 while men received $16,400. Women aged 25-29 years received $20,900 while men received $28,000.
  • The highest median annual income for women was in the 45-49 years age group at $22,000, but the biggest difference in median annual income between men and women occurred in the 35-39 years age group where women received $17,300 less in median income than men. The smallest differences were for the youngest and oldest age groups: for those aged 15-19 years and those aged 70 years and over the differences were all under $1,000.
  • Asian women received the lowest median annual income of all the major ethnic groups ($8,900), followed by Pacific and Maori women ($13,000 and $13,200 respectively), and European women ($15,100).
  • Women aged 15 years and over were less likely than men to receive income from wages and salaries (55% versus 59% respectively). Fewer women than men in the 15-39 years age group received income from wages and salaries, but more women than men received income from this source in the 40-59 years age group.
  • Women were more likely than men to receive income from the domestic purposes benefit (7% versus 1% respectively) in the year to March 2001. Around three-quarters of women in receipt of the domestic purposes benefit were aged 15-39 years.
  • Half as many women as men (proportionately) received income from self-employment in the year to March 2001. Just 12% of women received income from this source compared with 22% of men.

Families and Households

  • 10% of women (147,855 people) were sole parents in March 2001. This varied by ethnic group with 21% of Maori women being sole parents, 16% of Pacific women, 9% of European women, and 8% of Asian women.
  • More women than men lived alone. Over all age groups 10% of women lived alone compared with 8% of men. However, the difference was most noticeable in the 65 years and over age group where 43% of women lived alone compared with 20% of men.
  • Most women in households (97%) had access to a telephone, but far less had access to the Internet (42%). Pacific women were least likely to live in a household with access to the Internet (20%), followed by Maori women (25%), European women (44%), and Asian women (61%).
  • Although most women in households had access to a motor vehicle (92% for women and 94% for men), women were also high users of public transport: 31,131 women took a public bus to work on census day 2001 compared with 21,033 men.

This release and other 2001 Census releases, along with additional information, are available free on the Statistics NZ website at www.stats.govt.nz under “Census 2001”. You are welcome to reproduce and publish this information provided you acknowledge Statistics NZ as the source.

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