Movers
The proportion of the people who stated that they lived elsewhere in New Zealand five years earlier steadily increased over the period 1986 to 2006.
In 1986, less than half of Māori stated that they had moved in the previous five years. By 2006, over 60 percent had moved in the previous five years. Proportionally, the greatest increases in mobility have been seen in the age groups aged 35 years and over and among the 10–14 year age group who tend to be children of parents aged over 35 years. More than half of the 45–49 year age group, for example, had moved in 2006 compared with less than 30 percent 20 years earlier in 1986.
Figure 1
The high level of mobility among Māori is almost entirely attributable to the age structure of the population. While Māori have a higher proportion of movers in the population than the total New Zealand population, Māori appear to be less mobile for ages 25–39 years. Māori have only slightly higher mobility in other age groups. The younger age structure of Māori results in an overall higher mobility.
Figure 2
Age and sex of movers
Māori movers make up the vast majority of the Māori population among children and young adults. The sex imbalance of movers is more pronounced than for non-movers, reflecting the sex imbalance in the Māori population as a whole, especially among young adult ages. Overall, the movers account for more than 15,300 of the 15,600 excess females in the Māori population count in the 2006 Census.
Figure 3
Age and sex of non-movers
Māori who did not move between 2001 and 2006 tended to be families with children in secondary education. The adult non-movers were concentrated in the middle adult years with relatively many fewer non-movers in their late twenties and early thirties. Associated with these adult non-movers were younger teenage children in secondary education ages. However, the number of Māori parents who did not move (38,000 people) was smaller than the number who did (55,000). Many of these were parents of young families formed in the previous five years.
Figure 4
