4 - Ethnicity and Literacy

• How are the literacy skills of different ethnic groups distributed?
• How does the overall distribution of ethnicity compare with the distribution of ethnicity at each skill level?
  

This section examines these questions.

Ethnicity

The IALS and ALL surveys collected information on respondents’ self-reported ethnicity. As is standard with surveys like ALL, respondents could identify with several ethnicities. This means that some reported percentages (for example, those in Figure 4.1) may sum to more than 100%. Approximately 6% of the population identified with more than one ethnicity.

A feature of the ALL survey design was that it included ‘over-sampling’ for the Māori and Pasifika populations. This allows robust statistics to be reported for these populations and does not affect any of the other reported statistics.

Figure 4.1 shows the distribution of ethnicity in the adult population of New Zealand, as measured by the ALL survey.

Figure 4.1: Distribution of ethnicity, ALL only

Note:

1. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
2. In ALL, approximately 6% identified with more than one ethnicity.  This compares with approximately 10% in  the 2006 Census.
   

Figure 4.1 shows that around three-quarters of the adult population of New Zealand identify as New Zealand European. The next largest ethnic groups are Māori and Asian, followed by Pasifika and Other.

Prose literacy and ethnicity

Prose literacy is the ability to read and understand continuous texts (such as news stories, editorials, brochures and instruction manuals). Prose literacy skill in English was measured by both the IALS and ALL surveys, and its distribution among ethnic groups in the New Zealand adult population is shown in Figure 4.2. Figure 4.3 shows the distributions of ethnicity in the populations with level 1, level 2, and levels 3, 4 or 5 prose literacy skill.

Figure 4.2: Prose literacy and ethnicity, IALS and ALL

Note:

1. Levels 3, 4 and 5 are combined to give more robust statistical information.
2. Robust statistics were unable to be generated for the ethnicity Other.
   
3. The reported statistics for the IALS survey for the Pasifika and Asian groups are of marginal quality.
4. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
   

Figure 4.2 shows the following.

• For all ethnic groups, the percentage of the population at prose literacy level 1 decreased. These decreases were substantial for the New Zealand European, Māori and Asian ethnic groups
• For the Māori, Pasifika and Asian ethnic groups, the percentage of the population at prose literacy level 2 increased substantially. For the New Zealand European ethnic group this percentage remained stable at around 28%.
• For the New Zealand European, Māori, and Asian ethnic groups the percentage of the population at prose literacy level 3, 4 or 5 increased. For the New Zealand European and Asian ethnic groups this increase was substantial. For the Pasifika ethnic group the percentage of the population at prose literacy level 3, 4 or 5 decreased substantially.
  

Figure 4.3: Distribution of ethnicity, by prose literacy skill level, ALL only

Note:

1. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
2. Approximately 6% of 16-65 year-olds identified with more than one ethnicity.
   

Figure 4.3 shows that as prose literacy skill level increases, the percentage of the population at that skill level occupied by New Zealand Europeans increases and the percentage occupied by every other ethnic group decreases.  However, as the prose literacy skill level increases, the relative positions of the ethnic groups remain largely unchanged (with the New Zealand European group occupying the largest percentage, Māori or Asian the next largest, and so on). In fact these are the same as the relative positions in the total adult population (see Figure 4.1).

Document literacy and ethnicity

Document literacy is the ability to read and understand discontinuous texts (such as charts, maps, tables, job applications, payroll forms and timetables). Document literacy skill in English was measured by both the IALS and ALL surveys, and its distribution among the ethnic groups of the New Zealand adult population is shown in Figure 4.4. Figure 4.5 shows the distributions of ethnicity in the populations with level 1, level 2, and levels 3, 4 or 5 document literacy skill.

Figure 4.4: Document literacy and ethnicity, IALS and ALL

Note:

1. Levels 3, 4 and 5 are combined to give more robust statistical information.
2. Robust statistics were unable to be generated for the ethnicity Other.
   
3. The reported statistics for the IALS survey for Pasifika and Asian are of marginal quality.
4. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
   

Figure 4.4 shows the following.

• For all ethnic groups, the percentage of the population at document literacy level 1 decreased. These decreases were substantial for the New Zealand European, Māori and Asian ethnic groups.
• For the Māori, Pasifika and Asian ethnic groups, the percentage of the population at document literacy level 2 increased; for the Asian ethnic group this increase was substantial. For the New Zealand European ethnic group the percentage of the population at document literacy level 2 remained relatively stable (from around 29% to 27%).
  

For the New Zealand European, Māori, and Asian ethnic groups the percentage of the population at document literacy level 3, 4 or 5 increased substantially. For the Pasifika ethnic group the percentage of the population at document literacy level 3, 4 or 5 remained relatively stable (from around 26% to 24%).

Figure 4.5: Distribution of ethnicity, by document literacy skill level, ALL only

Note:

1. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
2. Approximately 6% identified with more than one ethnicity.
   

Figure 4.5 shows that as document literacy skill level increases, the percentage of the population at that skill level occupied by New Zealand Europeans increases and the percentage occupied by every other ethnic group decreases.  As for prose literacy, as the document literacy skill level increases, the relative positions of the ethnic groups remain largely unchanged (with the New Zealand European group occupying the largest percentage, Māori or Asian the next largest, and so on). These are the same as the relative positions in the total adult population (see Figure 4.1).

Numeracy and ethnicity

Numeracy is the ability to read and process mathematical and numeric information in diverse situations. Numeracy skill was measured in the ALL survey only, and was measured using English-language tests.  Its distribution among ethnic groups in the New Zealand adult population is shown in Figure 4.6. Figure 4.7 shows the distributions of ethnicity in the populations with level 1, level 2, and levels 3, 4 or 5 numeracy skill.

Figure 4.6: Numeracy and ethnicity, ALL only

Note:

1. Levels 3, 4 and 5 are combined to give more robust statistical information.
2. The reported statistics for the ethnicity Other are of marginal quality.
3. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
   

Figure 4.6 shows that the New Zealand European, Asian and Other ethnic groups were the higher performers in numeracy skill, and the Māori and Pasifika ethnic groups were the lower performers.

Figure 4.7: Distribution of ethnicity, by numeracy skill level, ALL only

Note:

1. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
2. Approximately 6% identified with more than one ethnicity.
   

Figure 4.7 shows that, as before, as numeracy skill level increases, the percentage of the population at that skill level occupied by New Zealand Europeans increases and the percentage occupied by every other ethnic group decreases.  However, the Pasifika ethnic group makes up a disproportionately large part of the population with level 1 numeracy skills. As for prose literacy, as the numeracy skill level increases, the relative positions of the ethnic groups remain largely unchanged (with the New Zealand European group occupying the largest percentage, Māori or Asian the next largest, and so on). These are the same as the relative positions in the total adult population (see Figure 4.1). 

Problem-solving and ethnicity

Problem-solving is the ability to reason and think analytically in situations where no routine procedure exists. Problem-solving skill was measured in the ALL survey only, and its distribution among ethnic groups of the New Zealand adult population is shown in Figure 4.8. Figure 4.9 shows the distributions of ethnicity in the populations with level 1, level 2, and levels 3 or 4 problem-solving skill.

Figure 4.8: Problem-solving and ethnicity, ALL only

Note:

1. Four levels of proficiency were measured in problem-solving.
2. Levels 3 and 4 are combined to give more robust statistical information.
   
3. The reported statistics for the ethnicity Other are of marginal quality.
4. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
   

Figure 4.8 shows that the New Zealand European and Other ethnic groups made up the higher performers in problem-solving skill, and the Māori, Pasifika and Asian ethnic groups made up the lower performers.

Figure 4.8 also shows that for the New Zealand European ethnic group, as problem-solving skill level increases, so does the percentage of the population at that skill level. The reverse is true for the Pasifika, Māori and Asian ethnic groups: as problem-solving skill level increases, the percentage of the population at that skill level decreases.

Figure 4.9: Distribution of ethnicity, by problem-solving skill level, ALL only

Note:

1. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
2. Approximately 6% identified with more than one ethnicity.
   

Figure 4.9 shows once more that, as for prose literacy, as problem-solving skill level increases, the percentage of the population at that skill level occupied by New Zealand Europeans increases and the percentage occupied by every other ethnic group decreases.  As the problem-solving skill level increases, the relative positions of the ethnic groups remain largely unchanged (with the New Zealand European group occupying the largest percentage, Māori or Asian the next largest, and so on). These are the same as the relative positions in the total adult population (see Figure 4.1).