Is there life after death?

By Warren Gamble

You live. You die. And then what?

Something else, according to a New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll survey which shows that more than half of the population believes death is not the last hurrah.

Of the 663 adults questioned nationwide, 55.5 per cent said they believed in an afterlife, 32.6 per cent did not and 11.8 per cent were not sure. Another 0.2 per cent refused to answer.

Women had a far higher belief in an afterlife (63.9 per cent) than men (46.4), but there was little difference between those aged 18 to 39 (55.1 per cent belief) and those aged over 40 (56.4).

Among ethnic groups, Pacific Islanders and Maori had by far the highest belief in a future beyond the grave with positive responses of 72.2 and 70.8 per cent respectively, compared with 57.1 per cent of Chinese and 51.3 per cent of New Zealand Europeans.

There are more believers among people living in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty (63.2) than other regions. Of the rest, 60.9 per cent of lower North Islanders believed, followed by Wellingtonians (58.7), Christchurch residents (58.6) and Aucklanders (54.5).

Of South Islanders outside Christchurch, more did not believe in an afterlife than did (46 per cent to 44.8 per cent), while Northlanders were positively disbelieving - 56.5 per cent - compared with only 39.1 per cent who did.

Those with household incomes of $19,000 to $28,000 had the highest belief (60.3), compared with the group on $28,000 to $44,000 (55.8), $44,000 to $67,000 (54.9), under $19,000 (54.2) and more than $67,000 (52.2).