Counting for Nothing: Understanding the Issues in Monitoring Disparities

Te Ropu Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pomare

The quality of policy in the area of disparities between Māori and non-Māori depends on the quality of the data that supports policy development, monitors disparities and informs interventions.

This paper backgrounds the history of and challenges faced in the classification of ethnicity in New Zealand. These challenges include changes in the ethnicity question in the 1996 Census and in the notification of births and deaths, which have led to inconsistencies that undermine the health time series.

The paper also discusses specific issues in developing useful numerators and denominators for the morbidity and mortality rates required for monitoring health, making particular examples of infant mortality and life expectancy. The authors reiterate the need to monitor disparities in health during the 1990s despite these challenges, as health data from this period may record some of the impact of economic reforms and the ongoing reform of sectors such as health, welfare and housing.