Families
A family is a couple with or without child(ren), or one parent and their child(ren), living in the same household.
- In 2001, Tongan people were more likely to live in a family situation (83 percent) than the New Zealand population (75 percent).
- A two-parent family with children remains the most common family type for Tongan people. Of those living in a family in 2001, just over two-thirds (69 percent) were living in a two-parent family – a drop of 2 percentage points since 1991. The comparable figures for the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 65 percent and 57 percent respectively.
- Just under a quarter (24 percent) of Tongan people living in a family were in a one-parent family – 2 percentage points higher than in 1991. By comparison, 28 percent of the Pacific population and 17 percent of the New Zealand population lived in a one-parent family in 2001.
- The proportion of Tongan people living as a couple without children remained at 7 percent (of those living in families) between 1991 and 2001. The equivalent proportions for the Pacific and New Zealand populations in 2001 were 8 percent and 26 percent respectively. The older age structure of the New Zealand population is a contributing factor to this difference.
- The proportion of dependent Tongan children living in two-parent families decreased from 74 percent in 1991 to 71 percent in 2001. During the same period, the proportion of dependent Tongan children living in one-parent families rose from 26 percent to 29 percent.
- In 2001, 33 percent of Tongan people were living in extended family situations – down from 38 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 Tonganmember remained at 3.9 between 1991 and 2001. The average family sizes for the Pacific and New Zealand populations in 2001 were 3.7 and 3.0 respectively.
Households
A household is 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.
- As figure 4.2 shows, three quarters (75 percent) of Tongan people were living in one-family households in 2001 – down from 79 percent in 1991.
- Following the national trend, the proportion of Tongan people living in households with two or more families rose in the first part of the decade from 18 percent in 1991 to 23 percent in 1996, before declining slightly to 22 percent in 2001. The equivalent proportions of the Pacific and New Zealand populations living in households with two or more families in 2001 were 20 percent and 5 percent respectively.
- In 2001, the overseas-born Tongan population (25 percent) was more likely to live in households with two or more families than New Zealand-born Tongans (19 percent).
- Approximately 1 percent of Tongan people lived in one-person households in 2001 – a similar proportion to the Pacific population overall (2 percent). 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 Tongan member remained steady – 4.6 in 1991 and 2001. The average household size for the New Zealand population in 2001 was 2.7.