Fact Sheet
Disability Among Whanau
MDRC
Rate & Residence
Maori Development Research Centre
Note: this fact sheet contains captions which describe pictures and graphs, for those using screen-reading
software. The captions are written in small font, as font size doesn’t matter to the software.
Key Facts
There are 96,600 Maori with disabilities in Aotearoa. That’s 17%
of the Maori population.
17%
(Photo shows a man in a
wheelchair greeting King
Tuheitia with a hongi –
pressing noses. This same
photo is on every page.)
Maori with disabilities
Maori without disabilities
83%
17% of the
Maori
population live
with disability
99% of Maori
with
disabilities
live in their
own
households
An estimated
900 Maori with
disabilities live
in formal
residential
care
(Diagram shows a pie graph of 2006 data. The largest portion of the pie graph shows that 83% of Maori are ablebodied. The smaller portion of the pie graph shows that 17% of Maori have disabilities.)
More had disabilities in 2001 (3% more).
Most Maori with disabilities live in their own households.
But some live in formal residential care facilities (rest homes, hospitals, long stay
residential units).
Nearly all Maori with disabilities (99%) live in
households and less than one percent live in
residential facilities.
Source: 2006 Disability Survey Hot Off The Press
Report, Statistics New Zealand, p.8.
The rate was the same in 2001.
A component of the information pack for the kaupapa whanau of kaumatua, Maori with
disabilities, carers and whanau. Contact MDRC to register for the wananga in your region February 2009
Gender
Age
Key Facts
Maori with disabilities are young, just like the general Maori
population. The largest group is rangatahi aged 15 – 44 and the second largest
group is tamariki up to 14 years old.
12%
Tamariki 0-14
25%
The
population of
Maori with
disabilities is
young
The largest
age group is
rangatahi
aged between
15 and 44
(34%)
29%
Rangatahi 15-44
Pakeke 45-64
34%
Kaumatua 65 & over
(Diagram shows a pie graph of 2006 data. The largest portion of the pie graph shows that 34% of Maori with
disabilities are rangatahi aged 15 – 44. The next-largest portions of the pie graph show that 29% of Maori with
disabilities are tamariki aged 0 – 14, and that 25% are pakeke aged 45 – 64. The smallest portion of the pie graph
shows that 12% are kaumatua aged 65 and over.)
The smallest
age group is
kaumatua
aged over 65
(12%)
In 2001there
were more
rangatahi with
disabilities
(42%)
Population Count
There have been a few changes since 2001.
45000
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
2001
2006
(Diagram is a bar graph which shows the number of people in each of the four age groups. For each age group
there are two bars: one for 2001 and one for 2006. The diagram shows very little change in the number of tamariki
aged 0 – 14 between 2001 and 2006. Other 2001 - 2006 differences are described below.)
In particular, there were more rangatahi with disabilities in 2001. There were also
slightly fewer pakeke and kaumatua with disabilities in 2001.
A component of the information pack for the kaupapa whanau of kaumatua, Maori with
disabilities, carers and whanau. Contact MDRC to register for the wananga in your region February 2009
Gender
Key Facts
Over half (51%) of Maori with disabilities are women.
49%
51%
Males
Females
51% of Maori
with
disabilities are
women
An estimated
78% of Maori
in residential
facilities are
women
36% of males
with
disabilities are
tamariki 0 – 14
years old
36% of
females with
disabilities are
rangatahi
15 – 44 years
old
(Diagram shows a pie graph of 2006 data. The largest portion of the pie graph shows that 51% of Maori with
disabilities are women. The smaller portion of the pie graph shows that 49% of Maori with disabilities are men.)
There were slightly more women in 2001 (54%).
About 200 males and 700 females live in residential facilities.
The largest group of males with disabilities are tamariki. The second largest group
are rangatahi.
The largest group of females with disabilities are rangatahi. The second largest
group are pakeke.
Males By Age
Females By Age
65 &
over
12%
65 &
over
9%
0-14
36%
45-64
22%
45-64
29%
15-44
33%
0-14
23%
15-44
36%
(Two diagrams, both showing pie graphs of 2006 data. The first shows the population of male Maori with disabilities
broken down into four age groups. The largest porrtion of the pie graph shows that 36% of male Maori with
disabilities are aged 0 – 14. The next-largest portions of the pie graph show that 33% are aged 15 – 44 and 22%
are aged 45 – 64. The smallest portion of the pie graph shows that 9% are aged 65 and over. The second pie
graph shows the population of female Maori with disabilities broken down into four age groups. The largest portion
of the pie graph shows that 36% of female Maori with disabilities are aged 15 – 44. The next-largest portions of the
pie graph show that 29% are aged 45 – 64 and 23% are aged 0 – 14. The smallest portion of the pie graph shows
that 12% are aged 65 and over.)
A component of the information pack for the kaupapa whanau of kaumatua, Maori with
disabilities, carers and whanau. Contact MDRC to register for the wananga in your region February 2009
Caregivers
Key Facts
Caregiving is prevalent among Maori. Unpaid caregiving is a
common activity for 22% of adult Maori.
41,733 care (without pay) for someone who is ill or has a disability and lives in the
same household.
39,966 care for someone who is ill or has a disability and does not live in the same
household.
22% of adult
Maori are
unpaid
caregivers
51% care for
someone in
the same
household
Overall, then, 81,699 care (without pay) for someone who is ill or has a disability.
That’s 22% of adult Maori.
22%
Unpaid Caregivers
78%
Other Adults
49% care for
someone
outside of their
own
household
66% of them
are women
(Diagram shows a pie graph of 2006 data. The smallest portion of the graph shows that 22% of adult Maori are
unpaid caregivers. The largest portion of the graph shows that 78% of adult Maori are not unpaid caregivers.)
There has been little change since 2001.
Two thirds of caregivers are women.
34%
Male caregivers
66%
Female caregivers
(Diagram shows a pie graph of 2006 data. The largest portion of the graph shows that 66% of unpaid caregivers
are women. The smaller portion of the graph shows that 34% of unpaid caregivers are men.)
There were slightly more males caregiving in 2001 (37%).
A component of the information pack for the kaupapa whanau of kaumatua, Maori with
disabilities, carers and whanau. Contact MDRC to register for the wananga in your region February 2009
Non-Maori
Key Facts
17% of the non-Maori population is disabled. That’s the same
rate as for Maori.
95% of non-Maori live in households as opposed to formal
residential care facilities. 99% of Maori live in households. For non-Maori:
The rate of
disability for
non-Maori is
the same as
for Maori
5%
Living in Households
Living in Residential
Care Facilities
95%
5% of nonMaori and 1%
of Maori live in
residential
care facilities
Non-Maori
with
disabilities are
older than
Maori with
disabilities
(Diagram shows a pie graph of 2006 data. The largest portion of the pie graph shows that 95% of non-Maori with
disabilities live in households. The smallest portion of the pie graph shows that 5% of non-Maori with disabilities live
in formal residential care facilities.)
49% of non-Maori with disabilities are women. For Maori it’s
51%.
Non-Maori have an older age structure. Their rates of disability
are opposite to Maori so that, where most Maori with disabilities are in the younger
age groups, most non-Maori with disabilities are in the older are groups.
Percentage of Maori/non-Maori
disabled population
49% of nonMaori and
51% of Maori
with
disabilities are
women
37%
40%
35%
34%
33%
29%
30%
25%
25%
19%
20%
15%
11%
11%
Maori
Non-Maori
10%
5%
0%
0-14
15-44
45-64
65+
(Diagram is a bar graph showing four age groups along the horizontal axis. For each age group there are two bars:
one for Maori and one for non-Maori. Each bar shows the percentage of Maori or non-Maori with disabilities in that
age group. The graph shows that a higher proportion of Maori with disabilities are found in the 0 – 14 and 15 – 44
age groups, and that a higher proportion of non-Maori with disabilities are found in the 45 – 64 and 65 and over age
groups.)
A component of the information pack for the kaupapa whanau of kaumatua, Maori with
disabilities, carers and whanau. Contact MDRC to register for the wananga in your region February 2009