Stats demonstrate wars' impact on life expectancy

Getting through the teenage years is tough, but not as tough as it was in the 19th century.

Back in the 1870s, nearly a quarter of people born in New Zealand never made it to aged 15.

Now, it's around one per cent.

The findings are part of a unique population study into survival in New Zealand.

New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world with relatively complete and detailed birth, death and migration information dating back to the late 1800s.

Statistics New Zealand has been able to construct life tables, the first released today, which will be continually updated.

The tables show that one in ten boys born in the mid-1890s would be killed in World War One.

"Without the direct impact of deaths in World War I and II, life expectancy at birth would have been five years higher for males born in the mid-1890s, and three years higher for males born in the late 1910s," said Government statistician Brian Pink.

The study - A History of Survival in New Zealand - shows that the average length of life has risen significantly from 51 years for males born in the late 1870s to 69 years for males born around 1930.

For females, life expectancy at birth has risen from 55 to 75 years.

The study shows that about 23 per cent of people born in the late 1870s died before they reached 15. But it fell throughout the twentieth century to today; 15 per cent of those born around 1900 died before 15, 7 per cent for those born around 1930, 3 per cent for those born around 1960, and 1 per cent for those born around 1990.

- NZHERALD STAFF