NEW ZEALAND MEN AND WOMEN ARE STEADILY AGEING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 85, 21 August 1950, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND MEN AND WOMEN ARE STEADILY AGEING

New Zealanders, particularly women, have been ageing steadily since 1921. The average age for males has risen from 26.63 in 1921 to 29.20 at December, 1948, estimate, and for females from 25.76 to 29.95, older than the male average.

These facts are contained in a half-yearly survey issued by the National Employment Service. Actually the latest estimated average was lower in both sexes than in 1945 when men were averaging 31.55 and women 30.98. The decrease since 1945 has not reduced the average to the 1936 level, however.

Immigration during the last few years has assisted in holding down the average age since the greater number of immigrants has been in the group below the median age for 1945, the survey explains. Immigration was likely to continue to have such an effect as long as immigrants were preponderantly below the median age and the flow continued to be greater than the number of previous immigrants passing the median age point. “It can be seen readily that if the stimulus of immigration falls away the effect will be to raise the median age of the population in the same way as would a fall in the birthrate.”

Direct consequences of a continued ageing would be that full replacement of workers moving into the higher age groups would be impossible. A study of individual age groups showed that it was apparent that without immigration the numbers at present between 10 and 20 years would be insufficient to replace the numbers in the 20-30 years group within the next ten years. However, it drew long-range comfort from the fact that the most populated age groups were those up to 10 years of age.