Māori families and households data released as an official Census statistic for the first time

Data Iwi Leaders Group and Te Kāhui Raraunga lead technician Kirikowhai Mikaere. Photo / Te Kāhui Raraunga

By RNZ

For the first time, Māori families and households data has been released as an official Census statistic.

The data from the 2023 Census was released last week, showing most whānau Māori are living in one-family households, and 86.9% of whānau Māori had two to four family members.

Data Iwi Leaders Group and Te Kāhui Raraunga lead technician Kirikowhai Mikaere said the datasets unlocked the ability for iwi Māori to plan for the future housing needs of their collective.

“From today, iwi Māori have current, quality data on how people within their collective are living, including detail on household composition, income, and whether they have access to the things they need to live well, such as safe drinking water and electricity,” she said.

“These statistics are more than just numbers on a page – they provide meaningful insights into the housing requirements of our people and enable the development of fit-for-purpose housing for tomorrow and beyond.”

The release is the first of the families and households statistics to be published from the 2023 Census, landing a week before whole-of-population insights are scheduled for release by Stats NZ.

Te Kāhui Raraunga chairman Rahui Papa says placing iwi Māori data in iwi Māori hands first is an essential part of good data governance. Photo / Te Kāhui Raraunga

Te Kāhui Raraunga chairman Rahui Papa said placing iwi Māori data in iwi Māori hands first was an essential part of good data governance.

“Māori data is a taonga tuku iho. It must be carefully nurtured for the benefit of iwi, hapū and whānau Māori,” Papa said.

“Putting iwi Māori data in iwi Māori hands first removes a barrier to us accessing our data, and also ensures there is a tirohanga Māori, a Māori lens, to the way any data insights are surfaced.”

Housing statistics

The data from the 2023 Census is available on Te Whata, a by-iwi, for-iwi data platform developed by Te Kāhui Raraunga, the operational arm of the Data Iwi Leaders Group.

It shows 27.5% of Māori owned or partly owned their own house in 2023 – down from 31.2% of Māori a decade earlier.

Nearly nine in 10 (88.4%) of Māori lived in a whānau household, with only 5.9% living in a one-person household.

One-third (33%) of Māori lived in homes that were sometimes or always damp in 2023.

One in five (21.7%) of Māori lived in crowded homes, defined as homes where either one or two extra bedrooms were needed.

- RNZ