Thu 7 Dec 2006 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Results released today from the 2006 New Zealand Census show how many same-sex couples share a residence. 3,516 female couples and 2,655 male couples responded that were living together on Census night in March. 867,696 opposite-sex couples were living together, meaning same-sex couples make up just 0.7% of all cohabiting New Zealand couples. No other information was collected about gay, lesbian, bisexual, fa'afafine, takatâpui, intersex, transgender and transsexual people in New Zealand, or the size of this group of people in relation to the total population. The new figures show an increase numbers of same-sex couples living together. The 2001 Census recorded just over 10,000 adults living with a partner of the same sex, making up 0.6% of all adults living in couples. This is a larger number than the 6,500 recorded in the 1996 Census, when they made up 0.4% of all couples. However, it is difficult to know whether the change in numbers represents a real increase in the number of same-sex couples living together, or a greater willingness on their part to report living arrangements and partnership status. According to Statistics New Zealand, it is likely that the figures understate the actual number of same-sex couples because of the inconsistent way people have responded to the census question. Statistics New Zealand investigated the possibility of including a question on sexual orientation in the 2006 Census but abandoned the idea for a number of reasons, including privacy concerns, public backlash, and difficulty in defining how the question should be worded. Ref: Statistics NZ, GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 7th December 2006 - 12:00pm