Ethnicity, Gender and Employment Status
The highest proportion of self-employed are among Asian and European populations...
Data from the 2001 Census shows 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 with 13.4 percent. Similar patterns emerge with respect to the proportion that are classified as employers, with 8.4 percent of the employed European labour force classified in this category and 7.4 percent of the Asian employed labour force.
...the lowest are recorded by Māori and Pacific Peoples
In both of these categories, Māori and Pacific Peoples record significantly lower proportions, with a greater fraction of these populations instead classified as paid employees.
Table 6: Percentage Ethnic Groups21 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 Ethnic Groups | 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 |
A greater proportion of males are self-employed
Data from the 2001 Census shows that almost twice the proportion of the male working population are employers, whilst a greater proportion of the employed female labour force is classified as paid employees. A far larger proportion of the male, rather than female, working population is classified as self-employed with no employees, whilst females are over one and a half times more likely to be doing unpaid work in a family business.
Data shown in Table 7 from the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) for 200322 shows similar proportions.
Table 7: Percentage of Each Sex by Status in Employment, 2003
| | Paid Employee | Self-Employed and Without Employees | Employer | Unpaid Family Worker |
| Male | 75.6 | 14.6 | 9.3 | 0.5 |
| Female | 86.7 | 7.9 | 4.4 | 1.0 |
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. However, the discrepancy 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 employers and self-employed made up by women has more than doubled. Women have gone from comprising 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.
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