May 16, 2023
StatsNZ to ask better census questions?
StatsNZ looks set to adding more relevant and appropriate pātai to the next census due in 2028.
Māori Census Director Atawhai Tibble, says he’s had feedback from whānau around the motu on the current pātai, the phrasing of the questions and their relevance to te ao Māori.
“There is a method to the madness of the questions but we hear what whānau are saying.”
” We’re going to be doing a little bit of work on this in the next three to six months, what would you like to see or what would you like to hear or what you would like to be counted because we’ll be heading there soon.” says Atawhai Tibble.
Most of the topics covered this year are the same as previous censuses on, population demographics, location, ethnicity, culture and identity, education and training, income, work, families and households, housing, transport, cigarette smoking, and disability.
However, Māori have found the phrasing of the questions irrelevant and ambiguous.
Just over 70% of Māori have filled out the census and Atawhai Tibble says that’s a great achievement given the difficult circumstances that have affected whānau over the past five years. He says, there’s still time for whānau in cyclone affected areas to complete census, they have until 01 June.