Statistics New Zealand

11/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/06/2024 15:55

How we live – a look at families and households from the 2023 Census

How we live - a look at families and households from the 2023 Census

07 November 2024, 10:45am

2023 Census data released today shows that we are seeing changes in how people live together as our population increases.

"People in Aotearoa New Zealand live in a wide variety of living situations. There may be one family or many families in a household, some with multi-generational or extended families. People also live alone or in flatting situations," principal analyst Dr Rosemary Goodyear said.

For households in occupied private dwellings, 71.6 percent were made up of at least one family in the 2023 Census. Of these, one-family households made up 67.7 percent (1,156,659 households), compared with 68.3 percent in the 2013 Census. The remaining 3.9 percent were made up of two or more families (66,612 households), similar to 3.4 percent in 2013.

Families living with children

In 2023, over half of the families in occupied private dwellings included children (of any age), at 58.5 percent (757,017 families). This was similar to the 2013 Census at 59.1 percent (671,091 families).

Auckland and Gisborne regions both had the highest proportion of families with children, at 64.5 percent (275,124 families and 7,911 families respectively). In contrast, less than half of families in Marlborough and West Coast regions had children, at 46.8 percent and 46.9 percent respectively.

Number and percentage of families with children and total families in occupied private dwellings, by region, 2023 Census

Region

Families with children

Total families

Number

Percent

Number

Northland

25,968

53.7

48,381

Auckland

275,124

64.5

426,684

Waikato

74,310

57.9

128,448

Bay of Plenty

48,813

56.7

86,121

Gisborne

7,911

64.5

12,258

Hawke's Bay

24,735

56.9

43,473

Taranaki

18,942

56.5

33,543

Manawatū-Whanganui

36,210

56.1

64,500

Wellington

78,606

57.6

136,509

Tasman

7,806

49.1

15,888

Nelson

7,317

51.9

14,097

Marlborough

6,402

46.8

13,665

West Coast

3,996

46.9

8,517

Canterbury

95,766

54.9

174,369

Otago

30,630

50.0

61,236

Southland

14,409

54.0

26,664

Area outside region

69

46.0

150

Total

757,017

58.5

1,294,503

People in families by ethnicity

When looking at people in families there are some distinct characteristics by ethnicity. Māori and Pacific Peoples are more likely to live in families with children (of any age), at 84.8 percent and 89.8 percent respectively. In contrast, the European ethnic group had the highest proportion of people living as couples without children, at 33.0 percent.

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  • Metadata
Created with Highcharts 5.0.14Family typePercentSee the metadata tab for how 'people in families by ethnicity' is defined.Percentage of people in families in occupied private dwellings, by family type and ethnic group, 2023 CensusEuropeanMāoriPacific PeoplesAsianMiddle Eastern/Latin American/AfricanOther ethnicityCouple without childrenCouple with child(ren)One parent with child(ren)0255075Stats NZ

Percentage of people in families in occupied private dwellings, by family type and ethnic group, 2023 Census

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14PercentPercentage of people in families in occupied private dwellings, by family type and ethnic group, 2023 CensusEuropeanMāoriPacific PeoplesAsianMiddle Eastern/Latin American/AfricanOther ethnicityCouple without childrenCouple with child(ren)One parent with child(ren)020406080Stats NZ
Ethnicity European Māori Pacific Peoples Asian Middle Eastern/Latin American/African Other ethnicity
Couple without children 33 15.2 10.2 21.6 20.2 32.1
Couple with child(ren) 53.3 52.9 62 69.1 64.2 57
One parent with child(ren) 13.7 31.9 27.8 9.3 15.6 10.9

Percentage of people in families in occupied private dwellings, by family type and ethnic group, 2023 Census

This counts the ethnicity or ethnicities of people in families, along with their family information. As ethnicity is a multiple response variable, an individual is counted in each ethnic group they identify with.

The percentage of people in families who lived with children decreased for all ethnic groups between 2013 and 2023, except for people of the Other ethnicity group, which increased by 1.4 percentage points. People of Middle Eastern/Latin American/African ethnicity had the largest percentage point decrease, at 3.1 percent. Note that a large proportion of the Other ethnicity group is made up of people who identify as New Zealanders.

"We are seeing lower fertility rates for Aotearoa New Zealand than we did a decade ago and similarly we are seeing decreases in the percentage of people living with children," Goodyear said. For more information about births in New Zealand, see Births and deaths: Year ended March 2024.

Areas in Auckland have a high proportion of families with children

In 2023, the highest percentage of families living with children in occupied private dwellings were found in the following territorial authorities:

  • Porirua city at 67.1 percent
  • Gisborne district at 64.5 percent
  • Auckland at 64.5 percent
  • Hamilton city at 64.3 percent
  • Lower Hutt city at 62.5 percent.


Within Auckland, the local board areas with the highest percentage of families with children were:

  • Māngere-Ōtāhuhu at 77.7 percent
  • Ōtara-Papatoetoe at 76.6 percent
  • Manurewa at 75.5 percent
  • Papakura at 70.2 percent
  • Henderson-Massey at 69.2 percent.


The two territorial authorities where families with children were least common were Thames-Coromandel district (38.4 percent) and Kaikōura district (39.3 percent), compared with 58.5 percent nationally.

Nearly 130,000 extended families

There were 127,947 extended families living together in a household in 2023. This was an increase of 27.2 percent (27,342 extended families) from the 2013 Census.

Auckland region had the highest number, with a total of 56,274 extended families. Waikato had the next highest at 12,861, and then Wellington at 11,700. The West Coast had the fewest extended families, at 414.

Around 3 in 5 extended families (58.7 percent) were three-or-more-generation extended families.

Number and percentage of three-or-more-generation extended families and total extended families in occupied private dwellings,
by region, 2023 Census

Region

Three-or-more-generation extended families

Total extended families

Number

Percent

Number

Northland

3,351

61.7

5,433

Auckland

34,092

60.6

56,223

Waikato

7,470

58.1

12,855

Bay of Plenty

5,397

61.0

8,853

Gisborne

1,176

64.4

1,827

Hawke's Bay

2,691

62.1

4,332

Taranaki

1,341

56.3

2,382

Manawatū-Whanganui

3,345

58.9

5,682

Wellington

6,585

56.3

11,694

Tasman

558

55.0

1,014

Nelson

468

54.4

861

Marlborough

417

51.5

810

West Coast

237

57.2

414

Canterbury

5,712

51.4

11,109

Otago

1,437

48.1

2,988

Southland

729

53.9

1,353

Area outside region

6

40.0

15

Total

75,015

58.7

127,845

People living alone by age, gender, and region

In 2023, 389,352 people (8.5 percent of all people living in households) lived alone, a similar rate to 2013 (8.9 percent). Auckland was the region with the lowest percentage of people living alone (6.2 percent of all people living in households) however, it had the highest number of people (95,865 people). The West Coast had the highest percentage, at 15.2 percent (4,400 people).

The percentage of people aged 65 years and over living alone has fallen slightly since 2013, from 28.8 to 25.3 percent of the population. Meanwhile the percentage of this population living in a household with two or more families increased slightly from 4.0 to 5.7 percent of the population.

"With our ageing population, we might have expected to see more people 65 years and over living in couple-only and one-person households. Instead, we found a slightly higher percentage of people aged 65 years and over living in multi-family households and other multi-person households. This change could reflect different factors, such as the increasing diversification of our society and, potentially, cost-of-living pressures," Goodyear said.

Of all people aged 65 years or older and living alone, two-thirds were female (66.4 percent or 127,536 people). Comparatively, 33.5 percent (64,413 people) were male and 0.1 percent (255 people) were another gender.

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Created with Highcharts 5.0.14Age groupPercentPercentage of people living in one-person households in occupied private dwellings, by age group and gender, 2023 CensusMale / TāneFemale / WahineAnother gender / He ira kē anō15-19 years20-24 years25-29 years30-34 years35-39 years40-44 years45-49 years50-54 years55-59 years60-64 years65-69 years70-74 years75-79 years80-84 years85 years and over051015Stats NZ

Percentage of people living in one-person households in occupied private dwellings, by age group and gender, 2023 Census

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14PercentPercentage of people living in one-person households in occupied private dwellings, by age group and gender, 2023 CensusMale / TāneFemale / WahineAnother gender / He ira kē anō15-19 years20-24 years25-29 years30-34 years35-39 years40-44 years45-49 years50-54 years55-59 years60-64 years65-69 years70-74 years75-79 years80-84 years85 years and over051015Stats NZ
Age group Male / Tāne Female / Wahine Another gender / He ira kē anō
15-19 years 0.5 0.4 3.1
20-24 years 2.4 1.6 11.1
25-29 years 4.3 2.4 14.1
30-34 years 5.8 3.2 12.6
35-39 years 5.5 3 8.6
40-44 years 5.6 3.1 7.1
45-49 years 6.6 4.1 6.1
50-54 years 8.8 6.2 6.7
55-59 years 10 8.2 7.6
60-64 years 11.3 10.7 6.9
65-69 years 10.7 11.5 5
70-74 years 9.4 12.3 4.4
75-79 years 7.8 11.9 2.7
80-84 years 5.8 10.5 1.7
85 years and over 5.6 10.8 2.3

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