In 2014, six in ten people (58 percent) had actively participated in the arts in the previous 12 months, with 34 percent having participated more than 12 times in the previous 12 months.
Visual arts (31 percent) was the most common activity people participated in, along with craft and object arts (ie ceramics, furniture, glass, jewellery, embroidery, quilting, pottery, woodcraft, spinning and weaving, and textiles) (27 percent).
One in five (20 percent) actively participated in performing arts, 15 percent participated in Ngā toi Māori, and 9 percent participated in Pacific arts.
The 2014 results for attendance and active participation were higher than 2011 (with attendance up 5 percentage points and active participation up 9 percentage points).
Figure L2.1 – Proportion of population aged 15 years and over who had attended at least one arts event or actively participated in the arts in the previous 12 months, 2005–2014
Source: Creative New Zealand
Age and sex differences
Females were more likely than males to attend and actively participate in arts events. This pattern was found across the four survey periods. Attendance at arts events for both sexes remained relatively stable from 2005 to 2011, but rose for females between 2011 and 2014 (from 83 percent to 90 percent).
Active participation in the arts for both sexes has been rising since 2008.
Figure L2.2 – Proportion of population aged 15 years and over who had attended at least one arts event or actively participated in the arts in the previous 12 months, by sex, 2005–2014
Source: Creative New Zealand
In general, attendance and active participation in art events in the previous 12 months decreased as age increased. In 2014, 90 percent of those aged 30–39 years attended at least one arts event, compared with 80 percent of those aged 70 years and over.
A larger age difference was found for active participation in the arts, with 71 percent of those aged 15–29 years old participating, compared with 48 percent of those aged 70 years and over. Similar results were found over the other survey periods.
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Table L2.1 – Proportion of population aged 15 years and over who had attended at least one arts event or actively participated in the arts in the previous 12 months, by age group, 2005–2014
15–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70+
2005
Attendance 85 90 83 83 79 79
Participation 64 49 47 48 42 35
2008
Attendance 84 84 88 81 78 74
Participation 61 51 45 45 39 35
2011
Attendance 85 84 75 78 77 77
Participation 66 52 38 45 44 38
2014
Attendance 86 90 82 88 84 80
Participation 71 60 54 55 53 48
Source: Creative New Zealand
Ethnic differences
In 2014, 90 percent of Pacific peoples and 89 percent of Māori attended at least one arts event in the previous 12 months, compared with 85 percent of people in the Asian ethnic group and New Zealand Europeans.
Similarly, 72 percent of Pacific peoples and 69 percent of Māori actively participated in at least one arts event, compared with 57 percent of New Zealand Europeans and 53 percent of people in the Asian ethnic group.
Figure L2.3 – Proportion of population aged 15 years and over who had attended at least one arts event or actively participated in the arts in the previous 12 months, by ethnic group, 2005–2014
Source: Creative New Zealand
Socio-economic differences
In 2014, 81 percent of those with a household income up to $30,000 attended at least one arts event in the previous 12 months, compared with 90 percent of those with a household income of $120,000 or more.
However, a similar proportion of people in both income groups actively participated in at least one arts event (57 percent of those with a household income up to $30,000, compared with 58 percent of those with a household income of $120,000 or more).
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International comparison
Research undertaken by the European Union in 2013 found that active involvement in artistic activities varied among European Union countries. Northern European countries were most likely to be actively involved in an artistic activity (eg Denmark at 74 percent and Sweden at 68 percent). Those from eastern and southern European countries were less likely to have personally engaged in an artistic activity (Bulgaria at 14 percent and Italy at 20 percent).
Data for this section can be found at:www.socialreport.msd.govt.nz/documents/2016/l2.xlsx
Safety
Desired outcomes
Everybody enjoys physical safety and feels secure. People are free from victimisation, abuse, violence and avoidable injury.
Introduction
Safety is fundamental to wellbeing: violence and avoidable injuries, at their most extreme, can threaten life itself. In other cases, they can reduce the quality of life for the victim and others.
Safety and security are both important. Safety is freedom from physical or emotional harm, while security is freedom from the threat or fear of harm or danger. Threats come in many forms, ranging from deliberate violence to accidental injury.
Violence and injury corrode quality of life in many ways. Physical injury causes pain and incapacity, reducing victims’ enjoyment of life and their ability to do things that are important to them.
Property crime, such as burglary, also affects people’s wellbeing. In addition to the direct losses associated with crime of this sort, evidence suggests the threat of burglary is a more significant worry for many people than the threat of violence.51
Psychological effects are often as important as the physical ones. Victims of violence or injury often retain emotional scars long after their physical wounds have healed. They may suffer from depression or face other mental health issues.
Crime affects not only individuals, but also society as a whole. The victim’s family and friends are likely to suffer grief and anger. They may have to care for someone who is temporarily or permanently incapacitated and who may lose their livelihood. Crime and the fear of crime can also reduce social cohesion within communities.
Crime may restrict people’s freedom of movement. For example, they may stay away from certain areas or avoid going out because of a fear of crime.
The costs to the whole society range from the expense of hospital care and law enforcement to the loss of the victim’s input into their work and community. Children who grow up surrounded by violence may themselves become violent adults, perpetuating a negative cycle.
Indicators
Four headline indicators are used in this chapter: criminal victimisation; fear of crime; assault mortality; and road casualties. The first three indicators provide a picture of the level and impact of violence in the community.
Measuring criminal victimisation from police records is difficult, as many crimes are not reported to the police. This is particularly true of domestic violence, sexual violence, and child abuse. The first
indicator uses results from the New Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS) to give a more comprehensive picture of the level of criminal victimisation in society.
The second indicator is fear of crime. Feeling unsafe harms people’s quality of life by producing anxiety.
However, people may feel unsafe and have their quality of life reduced, even when the actual likelihood of their being victimised is relatively small.
Assault mortality provides a picture of intentional violence across society. Reducing interpersonal violence in families and communities is critical to social and personal wellbeing. This indicator measures deaths resulting from violence, the tip of the violence pyramid.
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