In 2010, around four in five (79%) people agreed that smoking was a real problem in New Zealand, regardless of demographic background. Agreement was higher in 2010 than in 2008. In 2010, around four in five (79%) also agreed that that society disapproves of smoking. People appeared more polarised in 2010 in 2008, and Māori, Pacific, and those living in neighbourhoods of high deprivation showed lower agreement.
Methodology
In 2008 and 2010, all respondents were asked for their levels of agreement or disagreement (‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’ ‘neither agree nor disagree’, ‘disagree’, or ‘strongly disagree’) with the statements smoking is a real problem in New Zealand and society disapproves of smoking.
Mean (average) agreement scores (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) from the 2010 HLS were calculated to compare responses by:
• Smoking status (current smokers: those who smoked at least monthly, and past smokers: those who had ever smoked but did not smoke at the time of the survey, compared with never smokers).
• Ethnicity (Maori, Pacific, and Asian people, compared with people of European/Other ethnicity).
• Neighbourhood deprivation status (high: NZDep2006 8-10 and medium: NZDep2006 4-7, compared with low: NZDep2006 1-3).
• Age (25-34 years, 35-54 years, and 55 + years, compared with 15-24 years).
• Gender.
• Educational background (no formal qualifications, School Certificate/NCEA level 1, and UE/NCEA levels 2-3/trade certificates, compared with university qualifications).
• Parent/caregiver status (parents/ caregivers of up to 16-year-olds, compared with those who were not parents/caregivers of up to 16-year-olds).
Differences in levels of agreement from the 2008 and 2010 HLS were also compared.
Statistically significant differences (p < .05) are reported.
Key Results
The majority of people thought that smoking is a real problem in New Zealand:
• In 2010, four in five respondents agreed that smoking is a real problem in New Zealand.
• People were more likely to agree with this statement in 2010 than in 2008.
• In 2010 average agreement with this statement did not differ by smoking status, ethnicity, neighbourhood deprivation status, age, gender, educational background, or parent/ caregiver status.
The majority of respondents thought that society disapproves of smoking:
• In 2010, four in five respondents agreed that society disapproves of smoking.
• People appeared more polarised in their levels of agreement with this statement in 2010 than in 2008.
• In 2010, people who showed lower levels of agreement on average with this statement were current smokers, Maori and Pacific, and people living in neighbourhoods of high deprivation.