Questions on data collection - Children’s Convention from the United Nations

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Question 6(a)

Question 6(b)

Please inform the Committee about the following:

Question 6(a)

The development and implementation of a comprehensive mechanism for collecting high-quality disaggregated data and an information system on all areas of the Convention;

Reply 6(a)

Methods of data collection in relation to children and young people in New Zealand include the:

Census – a five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings provides population counts of children by ethnicity and disability status. It also provides information on the household and family circumstances of children including socio-economic status, housing, and employment.
Household Economic Survey (HES) – for measuring statistics in relation to the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018.
Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) – The quarterly Household Labour Force Survey provides information on the labour force status of households and families with children. It also provides information on the labour force status of adults aged 15 and over disaggregated by ethnicity and disability.
Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey - a nationwide survey of young people in New Zealand.
Wellbeing@School survey. [1]
New Zealand Health Survey – runs annually (since 2011) collecting health and wellbeing information on adults and children.
General Social Survey - provides information on the wellbeing of New Zealanders aged 15 years and over.
Te Kupenga - collects information on the social, cultural, and economic wellbeing of Māori in New Zealand, including information from a Māori cultural perspective.

Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) has identified the HES as the most effective survey for measuring child poverty statistics in relation to the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018. To provide a more accurate picture of child poverty in New Zealand, Stats NZ have expanded the survey’s sample size to at least 20,000 households, and improved targeting of low-income or high-deprivation households.

The CYWS has 36 indicators for measuring and reporting against its outcomes. The indicators will be built on and improved over time, as work across government progresses on improving the quality of data or collecting new or different data on children and young people’s wellbeing.

Ngā Tūtohu Aotearoa – Indicators Aotearoa New Zealand contains wellbeing indicators that reflect an internationally growing vision to provide a more holistic view of wellbeing and sustainable development. These indicators are collections of data and research that help us measure the state or condition of particular aspects of our wellbeing. Key child wellbeing indicators include:

child poverty
early childhood education participation
literacy, numeracy, and science skills of 15-year-olds
harm against children.

Stats NZ’s integrated data products are critical tools in the Government’s effort to reduce poverty, improve health, and provide a growing, inclusive economy. Stats NZ maintains and provides access to two integrated data products – the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) and the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD). These products bring together a wide variety of data from government and non-government organisations on topics like health, social services, education, wellbeing and justice.

Question 6(b)

The use of the data and indicators collected by the ministries concerned for the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes and projects for implementing the Convention.

Reply to 6(b)

Children’s health

The Ministry of Health (MOH) uses the annual New Zealand Health Survey and income data (in relation to child poverty) from the Household Income Report to monitor and evaluate health outcomes for New Zealanders. These findings support the monitoring of key health issues for children, including where improvements are being made and where there is room for improvement. The key results from 2018-2019 (and other related reports) can be found on the MOH website.

Read Annual Update of Key Results 2018/19: New Zealand Health Survey

Read Child and youth health data and stats

Children in the care and protection and youth justice systems

Oranga Tamariki carries out a range of data and indicators through its work with children and families/whānau and the delivery of services, all of which support the implementation of the Convention through identifying the areas where policies, programmes and projects are working, as well as identifying where new ones are required.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) collects data around ethnicity, age, and gender of users of the Family Court to assist with analysis of both the current system and options for change. MOJ proactively publishes some of this data, including about the effect of COVID-19 Alert Level 4 on the District Court, Family Court and Youth Court.

Tamariki Māori (Māori children)

TPK monitors the collection of data and indicators concerning Māori, including through the Māori Data Sovereignty Network (Te Mana Raranga) which focuses on the integrity and ownership of data on Māori.

This system ensures the cultural adequacy of services for tamariki Māori. TPK is also working on creating indicators that are mapped against the Whānau Ora Outcomes Framework to show how wellbeing from a whānau Māori perspective might be quantified.

Transport for Children

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) have developed a set of Transport Indicators to monitor the performance of the New Zealand transport system for children. This ensures they can access a range of rights including to education, family, health, play and religion. Child-specific indicators include:

percentage of children unable to visit a general practitioner due to a lack of transport (breakdowns by ethnicity, household income, age, gender and region)
number of hours spent on active travel among children aged 0-14 years.

MOT also routinely reports on other indicators through different reporting mechanisms, such as the annual reporting for the Government Policy Statement on land transport and Road the Zero: New Zealand’s road safety strategy. Example indicators include: