Statistics New Zealand today gave us more information about education and qualifications from the 2013 census. More New Zealanders now have a formal qualification for a job than in the 2006 census. The formal qualification includes any post-school certificate, diploma or degree recognised by NZQA from level 1 to level 7 and PhD. The figures show that nearly 80% of all New Zealanders have some formal qualification.
Not surprisingly, those people who had higher qualifications, on average received higher pay. The average salary for a worker with no qualifications was $19,400 whereas the average for someone with a bachelor’s degree was $46,700.
The figures for different ethnicities show that 88% of Asian New Zealanders had a formal qualification. This was the highest.
More Maori and Pacific Island people have a formal qualification now than in earlier years, 67% and 70% respectively. Also, more Maori now have a university degree – 7.5%; the figure for Pacific Islanders is 6.2%.
20% of all New Zealanders have a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Wellington has the highest percentage of people with degrees – 41%. This is not surprising as Wellington is the capital and many Ministry offices are in the capital. Auckland was second with 25%.
Of the people who have a Bachelor’s degree or Level 7, 18% are working in education, 18% in professional work including Science and 15% are working in health care. Most of those with a PhD are in education.
The next post will look at gender differences.
Vocabulary
• formal qualification – a recognised certificate, diploma or degree gained after studying
• post-school – not a school qualification, tertiary level (higher than secondary school) [post- after]
• professional work – includes lawyers, accountants, doctors, etc