Median annual income
Includes income from all sources – including income support.
- The Tokelauan adult population had a median annual income of $13,200 in the year to March 2001 – $1,600 below the median annual income of the Pacific adult population. The median annual income for the New Zealand adult population was $18,500. (See figure 8.1)
- The median annual income of Tokelauan adults who were in employment in the week preceding the 2001 Census was $22,500 – equivalent to 81 percent of that of the New Zealand population ($27,700).
- The real median annual income (adjusted for inflation to 2001 dollars) of Tokelauan people increased by 20 percent from $11,000 in 1991 to $13,200 in 2001. Over the same period, the real median annual income of the Pacific population and the New Zealand population increased by 16 percent and 11 percent respectively.
- Overseas-born Tokelauans had a higher median annual income ($13,600) than Tokelauans born in New Zealand ($12,800).
- In 2001, the median annual income of Tokelauan women was equivalent to 70 percent of that of Tokelauan men ($11,300 compared with $16,200). The gap between the sexes narrows for those in employment – with the median annual income of employed Tokelauan women equating to 84 percent of that of employed men ($20,300 compared with $24,200).
- Figure 8.2 shows that Tokelauan women are proportionately more likely to be in income bands under $20,001, while Tokelauan men are more likely to be in bands of $20,001 and over.
Income sources
- Wages and salaries were received by 53 percent of Tokelauan adults in the year to 2001. The equivalent proportions among the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 58 percent and 57 percent respectively, as figure 8.3 shows.
- Income from self-employment or a self-owned business was received by 3 percent of Tokelauan adults – the same proportion as the Pacific population in 2001. By comparison, 17 percent of the New Zealand population received income from this source.
- Three percent of Tokelauans received income from interest, dividends, rent or investments in 2001 – a similar level to the Pacific population (4 percent). Just over a quarter (26 percent) of the New Zealand population received income from these sources in 2001.
- Forty-two percent received some form of income support at some stage during the 12 months prior to the 2001 Census. 'Income support' refers to monetary support from the government, excluding ACC payments and New Zealand Superannuation.
- New Zealand-born and overseas-born Tokelauans were equally as likely to have received income support in 2001 (both 42 percent). The comparable figures for the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 33 percent and 19 percent respectively.
- Tokelauan women (46 percent) were more likely to have received income support than Tokelauan men (36 percent) in 2001.