This short report uses data from the New Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS) to look at whether New Zealanders feel racially discriminated against. It also provides background data on overall levels of perceived discrimination and where this takes place.
Ten percent of New Zealanders feel discriminated against
The Human Rights Act 1993 protects people in New Zealand from discrimination in a number of areas of life. Discrimination occurs when a person is treated unfairly, or less favourably, than another person in the same or similar circumstances.
The NZGSS asked New Zealand adults (15 years or over) whether they felt discriminated against over the past year. This report uses combined data from the 2008 and 2010 General Social Surveys and is therefore based on a sample of 17,271 respondents.
One in ten people aged 15 or over reported experiencing some form of discrimination in the last 12 months. This equates to an estimated 343,000 New Zealanders. Figure 1 shows the reasons why people felt they had been discriminated against.
To be counted as having experienced discrimination, respondents must report that they have been treated unfairly or had something nasty done to them because of the group they belong to or seem to belong to. Respondents could choose as many reasons as they thought relevant.
Methodology
The data is pooled from the 2008 and 2010 NZGSS. This larger sample size helps reduce statistical error in analysis and makes additional research questions feasible. The variables of interest have been tested (using estimates and residual standard errors) to ensure there are no significant statistical differences between the surveys. Weights for the pooled data set are created by dividing the existing weights by two.
A logistic regression model was used to determine the relationship between the explanatory variables and the response variable. Regression models describe how the response variable changes according to the changes in values of explanatory or predictor variables. Since the experience of racial discrimination in the workplace was measured using a binary response variable (yes, no) an ordinary least squares regression could not be used. Instead, a logistic regression was used to measure the relationship between the explanatory variables and the response variable.
The explanatory variables were based on demographic indicators including sex, age, ethnicity, migrant status, and highest qualification.