An absentee is identified on the census dwelling form or the household summary form as someone who usually lives in a particular dwelling but has not completed a census individual form there - because the person was elsewhere in New Zealand or overseas on census night. Such a person may have completed a census individual form elsewhere in New Zealand.

The dwelling form and household summary form provide guidance on who to count/not count as an absentee in the census.

Included are children away at boarding school, people away on holiday, away for work, in hospital for a short time, and so on.

Excluded are university or other tertiary students who live somewhere else for most of the year.

Access to telecommunication systems is the ability of residents in a private dwelling to communicate, through cellphone, telephone, or the Internet, with people outside the dwelling and to use services provided through these media. The device(s) and connection(s) must be in working order.

Notes on interpretation

• This data provides information on access to telecommunication systems at the household level. It does not show whether a particular household member has access to those amenities. In some cases, not every member of a household has equal access to particular telecommunication systems, such as a cellphone or the Internet.

Activity limitations is a new output topic in the 2018 Census. In previous censuses, disability questions were designed to inform the sample selection for the Household Disability Survey and were not intended for output.

A person is regarded as disabled if they have 'a lot of difficulty' or 'cannot do at all?' one or more of the six activities in the Activity limitations questions. These six questions are the Washington Group Short Set of questions on Disability and are referred to as Activity limitations in the 2018 Census.

The questions ask whether people have difficulty performing any of six basic universal activities (walking, seeing, hearing, cognition, self-care, and communication) and were designed for use with the general population. The questions were not designed to measure all domains of functioning with which people may have difficulty, but rather those domains that are likely to identify a majority of people at risk of participation restrictions.

Disability status is derived from six activity questions:

• difficulty seeing

• difficulty hearing

• difficulty walking or climbing steps

• difficulty remembering or concentrating

• difficulty washing all over or dressing

• difficulty communicating.

The questions were designed to allow comparisons to be made between average outcomes for disabled and non-disabled populations. They were not designed to identify the disabled population.

Age is the length of time a person has been alive, measured in complete, elapsed years. It is measured as the difference between 'date of birth' and 6 March 2018.

Birthplace refers to the country where a person was born and uses the name of the country at the time of the census. Country is the current, short or official name of a country, dependency, or other area of particular geopolitical interest. The term is defined to include:

• independent countries recognised by the New Zealand Government

• units that are recognised geographic areas

• administrative subdivisions of the United Kingdom

• overseas dependencies, or external territories of independent countries.

Census night address is the physical location of the dwelling where a person was located on census night. For passengers on overnight trains and buses, the recommended census night address is the destination of the passenger.

The census night population count of New Zealand is a count of all people present in New Zealand on a given census night. This includes visitors from overseas who are counted on census night but excludes residents who are temporarily overseas on census night.

The census night population count of an area (subnational count) is a count of all people present in that area on a given census night. This count includes visitors from elsewhere in New Zealand and visitors from overseas who are counted in that area on census night but excludes residents of that area who are temporarily elsewhere in New Zealand or overseas on census night.

For example, the census night population count of the Auckland Region includes all people present and counted in the Auckland Region on census night. It includes residents present, visitors from elsewhere in New Zealand, and visitors from overseas. It excludes people who usually live in the Auckland Region but were not in the Auckland Region on census night.

The census usually resident population count of New Zealand is a count of all people who usually live in and were present in New Zealand on census night. It excludes overseas visitors and New Zealand residents who are temporarily overseas.

The census usually resident population count of an area (subnational count) is a count of all people who usually live in that area and were present in New Zealand on census night. It excludes visitors from overseas, visitors from elsewhere in New Zealand, and residents temporarily overseas on census night.

For example, a person who usually lives in Christchurch city and is visiting Wellington city on census night will be included in the census usually resident population count of Christchurch city.

Cigarette smoking refers to the active smoking of one or more manufactured or hand-rolled tobacco cigarettes, from purchased or home-grown tobacco, per day, by a person aged 15 years and over.

The term 'smoking' refers to active smoking behaviour, that is, the intentional inhalation of tobacco smoke. Smoking does not refer to, or include, passive smoking (the unintentional inhalation of tobacco smoke).

Cigarette smoking does not include:

• the smoking of tobacco in cigars, pipes, and cigarillos

• the smoking of e-cigarettes

• the smoking of any other substances such as herbal cigarettes or marijuana

• the consumption of tobacco products by other means, such as chewing.

The input variables that derive cigarette smoking behaviour are:

• Regular smoker indicator

• Ever smoked indicator

A dwelling is any building or structure – or its parts – that is used, or intended to be used, for human habitation. It can be of a permanent or temporary nature and include structures such as houses, motels, hotels, prisons, motor homes, huts, and tents.

There can be more than one dwelling within a building. For example, each apartment in an apartment building is a dwelling.

Dwelling occupancy status classifies each dwelling according to whether it is occupied, unoccupied, or under construction when census data is collected.

For census use, a dwelling is defined as occupied if it is:

• occupied at midnight on the night of the data collection, or

• occupied at any time during the 12 hours following midnight on the night of the data collection unless the occupant(s) completed a form at another dwelling during this period.

This includes occupied dilapidated dwellings and occupied dwellings under construction.

For census use a dwelling is defined as unoccupied if it is unoccupied at midnight and at all times during the next 12 hours following midnight on the night of data collection.

Unoccupied dwellings may be classified as 'empty' or 'residents away'.

An unoccupied dwelling is classified as 'empty' if it clearly had no current occupants and new occupants are not expected to arrive or move in on, or before, census night. Unoccupied dwellings that are being repaired or renovated are defined as empty dwellings. Unoccupied dwellings include private and non-private dwellings, baches, and holiday homes are defined as empty dwellings. A dwelling is classified as having 'residents away' where occupants of a dwelling are known to be temporarily away and are not expected to return on, or before, census night.

Dwelling under construction includes all dwellings that are being built. An existing dwelling that is being altered, repaired, or extended and is unoccupied is coded as an 'empty dwelling'. A new dwelling that is under construction and is occupied is coded as 'occupied'.

Dwelling type

Dwelling type classifies all dwellings (ie occupied dwellings, unoccupied dwellings, and dwellings under construction) according to their structure and function.

Dwelling

A dwelling is any building or structure - or its parts - that is used, or intended to be used, for human habitation. It can be of a permanent or temporary nature and include structures such as houses, motels, hotels, prisons, motor homes, huts, and tents.

There can be more than one dwelling within a building. For example, each apartment in an apartment building is a dwelling.

Private dwelling

A private dwelling accommodates a person or a group of people and is not generally available for public use. The main purpose of a private dwelling is as a place of habitation; it is usually built (or converted) to function as a self-contained housing unit.

Private dwellings may be considered part of housing stock, or not part of housing stock.

Dwellings that are considered part of housing stock include:

• houses, flats, units, townhouses and apartments (these may be stand alone or joined together). Generally, they will be fully self-contained but there may be exceptions, for instance where several flats share a toilet, laundry, or kitchen.

• independent self-care units in retirement complexes

• private dwellings within a non-private dwelling structure or complex

• residences attached to a business or institution.

Dwellings that are not considered part of housing stock include:

• dwellings in a motor camp. These include any caravan, campervan, house bus, cabin, unit, tent, or improvised dwelling in a motor camp that has permanent residents and is therefore not generally available for public use

• mobile dwellings. These include any mobile dwelling, on water or land, that is not in a motor camp, such as houseboats, campervans, mobile homes, house buses, house trucks, caravans, and tents. They are intended to be transportable and movable but may be fixed in one location

• improvised dwellings. These include dwellings or shelters not necessarily erected for human habitation, but which are occupied. The structure will support a roof of some kind, no matter how roughly fashioned or makeshift, and will lack some or all of the usual household amenities such as electric lighting, piped water, bathroom, toilet, and kitchen/cooking facilities. For example, shacks, garages, and private vehicles other than those designed as, or converted into, dwellings

• places of habitation with no dwelling. These include public or outdoor areas, not intended for human habitation but which are occupied: public parks, bus shelters, under bridges, on beaches, in caves, train stations, doorways, and private property such as car parks, and farm land are all included in the roofless or rough sleeper category.

• vehicles lived in

• vessels lived in

• People may offer board or lodging to paying guests in their own homes (such as bed-and-breakfast, farm stay, home stay, or families hosting foreign students or boarders). Such homes are counted as private dwellings unless their main intent is to house boarders or paying guests.

Non-private dwelling

Non-private dwellings provide short or long-term communal or transitory type accommodation. They are generally available to the public for reasons of employment, study, special need, legal requirement, or recreation.

Non-private dwellings include:

• backpackers, guest accommodation, hotels, motels, youth hostels

• camps, communal staff quarters, hospitals, and institutional complexes

• bed-and-breakfasts, farm stays, and home stays that are mainly intended to be used as facilities for paying guests.

Number of storeys

For separate dwellings, number of storeys is the number that the dwelling has.

For joined dwellings, number of storeys is the number in the entire building that the dwelling is part of.

Educational institution address is the physical location of an educational institution; distinguishing details can include the building name; street number, name and type; suburb or rural locality; and city, town, or district.

Ethnicity is the ethnic group or groups a person identifies with or has a sense of belonging to. It is a measure of cultural affiliation (in contrast to race, ancestry, nationality, or citizenship). Ethnicity is self-perceived and a person can belong to more than one ethnic group.

An ethnic group is made up of people who have some or all of the following characteristics:

• a common proper name

• one or more elements of common culture that need not be specified, but may include religion, customs, or language

• a unique community of interests, feelings, and actions

• a shared sense of common origins or ancestry

• a common geographic origin.

The key output variables derived from ethnicity are:

• Total response

• Grouped total response

• Number of ethnic groups

An extended family is a group of related people who usually reside together:

• either as a family nucleus with one or more other related people, or

• as two or more related family nuclei, with or without other related people.

Included are people who were absent on census night but who usually live in a particular dwelling and are members of an extended family in that dwelling, as long as they were reported as being absent by the reference person on the dwelling form or the household

Family type classifies family nuclei according to the presence or absence of couples, parents, and children.

Household composition classifies households according to the relationships between usually resident people. The classification is based on how many and what type(s) of family nuclei were present in a household, and whether or not there were related or unrelated people present.

Hours worked in employment is the total number of hours usually worked in employment each week by a person aged 15 years and over who:

• worked one hour or more for pay, profit, or payment in kind, in a job, business, farm, or professional practice, or

• worked one hour or more without pay in work that contributed directly to the operation of a business, farm, or professional practice operated by a relative, or

• had a job or business they were temporarily absent from.

Hours worked is derived by summing the number of hours worked in a main job, and number of hours worked in all other jobs for pay, profit or income.

The key variable derived from hours worked in employment per week is:

Work and labour force status

Housing quality

Housing quality refers to the adequacy of the structure (internal and external) and internal environment of a dwelling.

Good quality housing is housing that is suitable for habitation. It provides sufficient shelter and protection from the outside environment, a healthy indoor environment (warm, safe, mould free, and dry), and contains the amenities needed for everyday living.

• amenities are services and structures such as electric lighting, drinkable water, bath or shower, toilet, and kitchen/cooking facilities.

• dampness of a dwelling is measured by if it is always damp, sometimes damp or not damp.

• presence of mould is defined by how much mould is present in a dwelling by measuring the size eg mould over A4 size.

Dwelling dampness indicator

Dwelling dampness indicator indicates whether an occupied private dwelling is not damp (dry throughout) or the degree to which it is damp ? sometimes damp or always damp. Dampness is defined as when a dwelling feels or smells damp or has damp patches on the wall, ceiling, floor or window frames.

Dwelling mould indicator

Dwelling mould indicator provides a measure of the total amount of visible mould inside occupied private dwellings. It indicates whether there is mould present that has a total area larger than an A4 sheet of paper, or whether the total amount present is smaller

than A4 size, or there is no mould. It excludes any mould that is not visible (eg mould inside walls).

Access to basic amenities

Access to basic amenities indicates what basic amenities (eg cooking facilities, shower or bath, and electricity) are available inside an occupied private dwelling. The amenities need to be in working order to be counted.

Individual home ownership indicates whether or not a person aged 15 years and over owns (or partly owns) the dwelling they usually live in or holds the dwelling in a family trust.

This variable was previously called tenure holder.

This variable provides information on home ownership at the individual level ie whether individual people own their home or not. This is different to tenure of household which provides information on home ownership at the household level ie whether one or more household members own their home or not.

For households whose tenure of household is 'owned', not every household member may be a home owner. For those consisting of a couple, both people may be owners, but for other household types such as households of unrelated people, only one household member may own the dwelling and the other household members may not.

Industry is the type of activity undertaken by the organisation, enterprise, business, or unit of economic activity that employs one or more people aged 15 years and over.

An iwi, or Māori tribe, is one of the largest kinship groupings and is generally made up of several hapū that are all descended from a common ancestor. Hapū are clusters of whānau where the whānau is usually an extended family grouping consisting of children, parents, often grandparents, and other closely related kin.

For statistical purposes, an iwi is defined as a whakapapa-based kinship grouping that generally has several hapū and one or more active marae, and a recognised structure that represents the interests of the iwi, such as a rōpū whakahaere, committee, or board.

Language spoken provides information on which languages, and how many, a person can speak or use.

This includes New Zealand Sign Language.

Main means of travel to education is the usual method a person used to travel the longest distance to their place of education (for example, by bicycle, school or public bus, walking, or driving).

"Usual" is the type of transport used most often - for example, the one used for the greatest number of days each week, month, or year. If there are two (or more) forms of transport used equally as often, the most recent form of transport was recorded.

"Main" is the type of transport used for the component of the journey that covers the longest distance.

Main means of travel to work is the usual method by which an employed person aged 15 years and over used to travel the longest distance to their place of employment (for example, by bicycle, public bus, walking, or driving).

'Usual' is the type of transport used most often - for example, the one used for the greatest number of days each week, month, or year. If there are two (or more) forms of transport used equally as often, the most recent form of transport was recorded.

'Main' is the type of transport used for the component of the journey that covers the longest distance.