Summary

Rangatahi Māori 15-year-olds in 2009 – what they did up to age 28

• Tertiary participation for this rangatahi Māori cohort was highest (at 30 percent) when they were aged 18.
• Their employment (while not in education or training) increased markedly up to 26 percent at age 18, continued to increase steadily after that, and was stable at around 49 percent from age 23 onward.
• The proportion not in education or employment increased most at age 16 (from 1.3 percent in 2009 to 14 percent in 2010) and at age 18 (from 19 percent in 2011 to 27 percent in 2012).
• Patterns of activity were different for men and women, and for parents and non-parents. Nearly a third (29 percent) of women, and 16 percent of men in the cohort were parents by age 20. These proportions had reached 58 percent of women and 44 percent of men by age 28.
• Parents, both young women and men, were less likely than non-parents to be at school at ages 16 and 17.
• From age 17 on, mothers were less likely, and fathers a little more likely than non-parents to have paid employment as their main activity. Mothers were less likely than non-parents to be in tertiary education, up to around 2017 (age 23). Industry training was more likely to be the main activity for men than women, irrespective of parenthood.

Rangatahi Māori 15-year-olds in 2009 – their educational achievement up to 2022

• Nearly half (46 percent) of the rangatahi Māori cohort had a non-degree level qualification at Level 3 or higher by 2022, and about one in seven (14 percent) had gained a degree or higher by 2022.
• Forty-three percent of the rangatahi Māori cohort left school with either no qualification or NCEA Level 1 only. They went on to gain subsequent tertiary qualifications in similar proportions as the 27 percent of all Aotearoa New Zealand young people of the same age with the same level of school qualifications.
• Rangatahi Māori who achieved Level 2 or higher at school were more likely to gain a non-degree qualification and less likely to gain a degree or higher than all Aotearoa New Zealand young people with these school qualifications.
• Level of achievement was strongly associated with ongoing education and employment. Any sort of formal educational qualification noticeably increased the chances of being in education or employment at age 28.
• Māori women at age 28 were more likely than men to be not in employment, education or training (NEET) at all levels of qualification, likely reflecting the extent of their unpaid work in caregiving and community roles.

Figure 1: Rangatahi Māori 15-year-olds in 2009 – What they did from age 15 to 28

A single main activity per year has been estimated for each person. See technical notes at the end of the report for more information.

Interactive charts: 15-year-olds in 2009 – Their main activity from ages 14 to 28 by highest formal educational qualification