Families
A family is defined as a couple with or without child(ren), or one parent and their child(ren), living in the same household.
- In 2001, Cook Island Maori were more likely to live in a family situation (81 percent) than the New Zealand population (75 percent).
- A two-parent family with children remains the most common family type for Cook Island Maori people, as figure 4.1 illustrates. Of those living in a family in 2001, 57 percent were in a two-parent family – a drop of 4 percentage points since 1991. By comparison, 65 percent of the Pacific population and 57 percent of the New Zealand population were living in a two-parent family in 2001.
- More than a third (36 percent) of Cook Island Maori living in a family were in a one-parent family – 3 percentage points higher than in 1991. By comparison, 28 percent of the Pacific population and 17 percent of the New Zealand population were living in a one-parent family in 2001.
- The proportion of Cook Island Maori people living as a couple without children increased slightly from 6 percent (of those living in families) in 1991 to 8 percent in 2001. The equivalent proportions in 2001 for the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 8 percent and 26 percent respectively, with the older age structure of the national population a contributing factor to this difference.
- The proportion of dependent Cook Island Maori children living in two-parent families decreased from 60 percent in 1991 to 57 percent in 2001. Conversely, the proportion of dependent Cook Island Maori children living in one-parent families rose from 40 percent in 1991 to 43 percent in 2001.
- In 2001, 27 percent of Cook Island Maori people were living in extended family situations – down from 31 percent in 1996. By comparison, 29 percent of the Pacific population and 8 percent of the New Zealand population were living in extended families in 2001.
- The average (mean) size of families with at least one Cook Island Maori member changed little between 1991 (3.7 percent) and 2001 (3.6 percent). The average family sizes for the Pacific and New Zealand populations in 2001 were 3.6 and 3.0 respectively.
Households
A household is defined as either one person who lives alone or two or more people who usually reside together and share facilities such as eating, cooking and bathroom facilities.
- Three-quarters (76 percent) of Cook Island Maori were living in one-family households in 2001 – down from 80 percent in 1991.
- Following the national trend, the proportion of Cook Island Maori people living in households with two or more families rose in the first part of the decade from 16 percent in 1991 to 21 percent in 1996, before declining slightly to 19 percent in 2001. The proportion of the Pacific and New Zealand populations living in households with two or more families in 2001 was 20 percent and 5 percent respectively.
- In 2001, the overseas-born Cook Island Maori population (21 percent) was more likely to live in households with two or more families than the New Zealand-born Cook Island Maori population (18 percent).
- Approximately 2 percent of Cook Island Maori people were living in one-person households in 2001 – the same proportion as the Pacific population overall. The equivalent figure for the New Zealand population was 9 percent.
- In the decade to 2001, the average (mean) size of households with at least one Cook Island Maori member remained steady at 4.1. The average household size for the New Zealand population in 2001 was 2.7.
