Population Study in New Zealand

• Maori


  Descendants of migrants who sailed to New Zealand from Polynesia about 700 years ago, also known as tangata whenua (first permanent settlers)
• Maori numbers rapidly declined after the arrival of Europeans due to the introduction of guns, the spread of new diseases, and the loss of most of their land
• Settlers' demand for land, and Maori determination not to sell, resulted in the North Island's 'land wars' of the 1840s and 1860s
• From 1865, British military, economic and political power ensured rapid alienation (confiscation and purchase) of Maori land
• As European settlement increased, gold mining, sheep farming and, after the invention of refrigeration, dairying dominated the economy
• From the 1950s, manufacturing industries grew rapidly in New Zealand
• Migration to New Zealand became an attractive option in the 1960s and 1970s when New Zealand's growing manufacturing industries were short of workers, and natural hazards, rapid population growth and failing economies were making life difficult in the Pacific
• New Zealand's Pacific Island population has retained its strong church and extended family culture, and is making a significant contribution to New Zealand's emerging Pacific identity through sport, art, writing, food, fashion and design
• New Zealand's population is counted by official census every five years
• The census provides statistical data used in planning for the future
• New Zealand's population is becoming increasingly multicultural
• People of British descent are still dominant, but a Pacific identity is emerging
• New Zealand is a highly urbanised society
• New Zealand has an aging society
• New Zealand is no longer an egalitarian society, the gap between rich and poor is widening
• Apart from the baby boom years, New Zealand's natural increase rate has been steadily declining since 1900, and changes in population growth rates have been influenced more by migration
• Apart from the postwar baby boom (1945–65) and its 'echo' a generation later, New Zealand's birth rates and fertility rates have been in decline since 1880 due to urbanisation, contraception, and lifestyle changes
• Death rates have been slowly and steadily declining (except during war years)
• New Zealanders are living longer than ever before thanks to better living standards, advances in medical knowledge and technology, and welfare state health services
• Children and the elderly are known as dependants, and the proportion of dependants to the working-age population is known as the dependency ratio
• For many years, New Zealanders accepted that children and the elderly could depend on the support of working-age people, with taxes paid on their incomes funding health care, education and pensions for the elderly
• Attitudes towards the elderly

  • The older you are the higher your status in society
  • Old people are out of touch with the modern world
  • Families are responsible for their elderly
  • People need to look ahead, not look after the elderly
  • Elderly people have great experience and wisdom
  • Elderly people should live with their extended families
  • Elderly people are the responsibility of the government
  • The elderly should live in retirement villages, or 'old folks homes'
  • The elderly should look after themselves