Life is shorter for Maoris

Press, 13 June 1986, Page 5

Life is shorter for Maoris

PA Wellington The average New Zealand woman can expect to live to the age of 77, six years longer than her male counterpart. But Maori men and women, on average, cannot expect to live to 70, according to life tables given by the Statistics Department. The tables, based on 1981 census and mortality statistics, show that a Maori female has a life expectancy of 68 years while a Maori male has a life expectancy of just under 64 years. Over all, the statistics show that there is a relatively high mortality rate in the first year of life, followed by a gradual decline until the age of 11. From then on the chances of dying increase with age except for a “hump” in mortality rates in the late teens and early 20s. This was attributed to the high accident rate in this agegroup.

It is only as people approach their late 50s that their probability of dying within the next year of life approximates the chance of death during the first year of life. The department says that the Maori mortality rates show the same broad pattern as that of non-Maoris. However, Maori rates showed two significant features: a substantially higher mortality rate in the first year of life and a much more pronounced “accident hump” in the late teens and early 20s.

New Zealand’s life expectancies are now lower than a number of European countries, together with Japan and Australia. The department says New Zealand life expectancies have not improved in recent years as much as in some other developed countries. Comparisons indicate that infant mortality and the "accident hump” in the late teens and early 20s are major areas where there is room for further improvement in New Zealand.

It also reports that death rates from cancer have increased since 1970 but at the same time there was a decrease in the death rate from heart disease.