Ethnicity, Gender and Employment Status
The highest proportion of self-employed is among Asian and European populations; the lowest is recorded by Māori and Pacific Peoples.
Data from the 2001 Census show that the ethnic group with the greatest proportion classified as self-employed without employees is the Asian employed labour force (14.3 percent). The second highest proportion is recorded by the European ethnic group (13.4 percent). Similar patterns emerge with respect to the proportion classified as employers, with 8.4 percent of the employed European labour force in this category and 7.4 percent of the Asian employed labour force.
Māori and Pacific Peoples record significantly lower proportions in both of these categories, and a greater proportion classified as paid employees.
Table 6: Percentage Ethnic Groups15 by Status in Employment, 2001
| Grouped Total Responses |
Paid Employee |
Self-Employed without Employees |
Employer |
Unpaid Family Worker |
| Total European Ethnic Groups |
75.9 |
13.4 |
8.4 |
2.3 |
| Total Māori Ethnic Group |
88.1 |
6.5 |
3.1 |
2.2 |
| Total Pacific Peoples |
92.6 |
4.4 |
1.6 |
1.3 |
| Total Asian Ethnic Groups |
74.3 |
14.3 |
7.4 |
3.9 |
| Total Other Ethnic Groups |
80.1 |
12.0 |
5.9 |
2.0 |
| Total New Zealand |
77.3 |
12.7 |
7.7 |
2.3 |
A greater proportion of males are employers or self-employed.
The proportion of the male working population who are employers is twice that of women. A far larger proportion of the working male, as opposed to working female, population is classified as self-employed. Women are more likely to be doing unpaid work than men.
Data in Table 7 are sourced from the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) as at March 2005.
Table 7: Status in Employment by Gender, as at March 2005
| |
Paid Employee |
Self-Employed |
Employer |
Unpaid relative assisting |
| Male |
72.6 |
14.7 |
8.8 |
0.3 |
| Female |
86.4 |
8.3 |
4.4 |
0.8 |
| Total |
80.9 |
11.7 |
6.8 |
0.6 |
The number of female employers and female self-employed has doubled over the last 30 years.
Data from both the census and the HLFS show that females make up a relatively small proportion of the total number of employers and self-employed, although the difference between male and female participation in these types of employment is significantly smaller now than it once was. Between the 1966 and 2001 censuses, the proportion of female employers and self-employed has more than doubled. Women have gone from 9.9 percent of total employers to 29.8 percent, and have moved from 11.2 percent of the self-employed to 31.1 percent.
The following data are from the HLFS as at March, 1990-2005.
Figure 30: Status in Employment by Males, 1990-2005
→ Long Description of Figure 30: Status in Employment by Males, 1990-2005
Figure 31: Status in Employment by Females, 1990-2005
→ Long Description of Figure 31: Status in Employment by Females, 1990-2005
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