Survey On Maori Labour Force

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31922, 25 February 1969, Page 21

Survey On Maori Labour Force

More than twice as many Maori male workers are employed as farmworkers, labourers, drivers, carpenters, millers and bakers compared with non-Maoris, say the February issue of the Labour and Employment Gazette.

“The Maori population is characterised by marked youthfulness in comparison with the non-Maori sector,” the gazette says. “Not only has this left a smaller proportion old enough to supply a work force, it has meant that the Maoris within the working age range of 15 to 64 years have been concentrated in the lower age groups.” At the 1966 census persons who claimed half or more Maori blood represented 7.5 per cent of the New Zealand population. Of this population, only 47.7 per cent fell within the working age range, 15-64 years, compared with 60.1 per cent of the nonMaori population. Against that, 50.4 per cent of the Maori population was under 15 years of age, compared with 31.2 per cent of non-Maoris, indicating the extreme youthfulness of the Maori population and its potential contribution to the labour force of the future.

In the total population the ratio of Maori to non-Maori was only nine to 13. In the five-14 age group the ratio was one to nine, and in the under-five age group the ratio was one to 7.7. Between the 1961 and 1966 censuses, Maori population increased 20.4 per cent, but Maori population in cities and boroughs increased 80.2 per cent As a result, the net total increase in Maori popu-

lation was 34,073, but for I Maori population in boroughs and cities it was 44,655. Thus there was a reduction, for the first time, in other areas—rural and semi-urban —of 10,582. The gazette said it was a cause for concern that, comparing Maori and non-Maori participation in the labour force, fewer Maoris than non-Maoris were engaged in i occupations which required higher educational qualifications.

“They are generally concentrated in less-skilled and lessresponsible jobs,” the gazette said.

“For males in the eraftsmen division, in which 24,463 men were engaged, 20.8 per cent were labourers, 19.8 per cent were food workers which includes freezing workers, and 14.6 per cent were stationary-engine, excavating and lifting-equipment operators, or waterside workers.

“In transport and communications occupations 79.4 per cent were road-transport drivers. Of the few who were engaged in the professional division 61.9 per cent were employed either as teachers or clergymen. “The situation generally shows a small improvement over the 1961 census, when the comparative percentages for non-Maori participation were 25.3, 20.9, 13.8, 77.4 and 64.4.” The female distribution was similarly skewed towards unskilled and semiskilled work and, although a higher proportion of females than males were engaged in the professional division (8.8 per cent compared with 1.8 per cent), 93.0 per cent of them were employed as either teachers or nurses (compared with 80.0 per cent for non-Maori females).