Introduction

Māori women's life experiences have changed dramatically over the last half of the 20th century. In the 1950s, the Māori female population was predominantly young and largely rural. Māori women left school early and were likely to marry and have children at a young age (Pool 1991). Some entered the workforce but very few went on to further education and training. In this report, the term 'women' includes females of all ages unless otherwise stated.

Throughout the 1960s, many Māori families moved from rural to urban areas. During this time, Māori women were more likely than non-Māori women to participate in the labour force as they took advantage of opportunities in rapidly expanding industries (Statistics New Zealand 1994). Although the education status of the Māori population was low, the availability of a large range of low-skilled occupations meant that both Māori men and women had the opportunity to participate in the labour force, and two-parent, two-income Māori families were relatively common at this time.

Economic restructuring and state sector reforms in the 1980s had a major impact on industries and occupations where Māori women were most concentrated. Since then, the decline in job opportunities, combined with increased responsibilities for parenting (as a result of the increase in one-parent families), has limited Māori women's access to employment. In turn, this has had an impact on the socio-economic status of Māori families. As we move into the 21st century, education, training, and retraining will play a critical role in improving the social and economic wellbeing of Māori women, and ultimately of Māori families.

One of Government's key strategic objectives is to extend economic and social opportunities by significantly improving the health, employment, education and housing status of Māori. A key factor in achieving this objective will be the ability of mainstream agencies to accurately assess the needs of Māori women and their families and develop and target interventions which meet these needs. To date such an approach has been hindered by a lack of information on Māori women. This report is intended as a first step towards filling this information gap.

This report was prepared by Te Puni Kōkiri in collaboration with the Ministry of Women's Affairs. The information base on Māori women provided here will be updated regularly. This report gives an overview of key issues affecting Māori women's lives in terms of demographic trends, family formation, education and training, work, and income. The Census has been used as the primary data source. (Because of issues with analysing recent ethnicity health data, this report includes little about Māori women's health.)

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