Quality Statement

Label
Sources of personal income - 2023 Census: Information by concept en-NZ
Definition

Sources of personal income is all the various sources from which a person received income in the 12 months ending 7 March 2023.

In the census, it is generally only realistic to collect information on money income. This is income that a person can normally recall or can readily retrieve from their financial records. Money income is money flow from the deployment of one's labour, entrepreneurial skills, and assets; and from transfers received. So, the concept of money income relies on identifying its sources.

Excluded are income in kind, unrealised income, and contingent income (contingent income depends on the unknown outcome of a course of action, for example, to sue). Excluded also is money received by borrowing, making withdrawals from savings, and receiving repayments of loan principal; and tax credits and reimbursements of expenses.

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Overall quality rating

High quality
Data quality processes section below has more detail on the rating.

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Priority level

Priority level 2
A priority level is assigned to all census concepts: priority 1, 2, or 3 (with 1 being highest and 3 being the lowest priority).
Sources of personal income is a priority 2 concept. Priority 2 concepts cover key subject populations that are important for policy development, evaluation, or monitoring. These concepts are given second priority in terms of quality, time, and resources across all phases of a census.
The census priority level for sources of personal income remains the same as 2018.
The 2023 Census: Final content report has more information on priority ratings for census concepts.

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Subject population

Census usually resident population count aged 15 years and over
‘Subject population’ means the people, families, households, or dwellings that the variable applies to.

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How this data is classified

Sources of personal income data is classified into the following categories:

Census Sources of Personal Income Classification V3.0.0 – level 1 of 1

Code Category
00 No source of income during that time
01 Wages, salary, commissions, bonuses etc paid by my employer
02 Self-employment or business I own and work in
03 Interest, dividends, rent, other investments
04 Regular payments from ACC or a private work accident insurer
05 New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran’s Pension
06 Other superannuation, pensions, or annuities (other than NZ Superannuation, Veteran’s Pension or war pensions)
07 Jobseeker Support
08 Sole Parent Support
09 Supported Living Payment
10 Student Allowance
11 Other government benefits, government income support payments, war pensions or paid parental leave
12 Other sources of income, including support payments from people who do not live in my household
99 Not stated

Sources of personal income uses a 1-level flat classification as presented in the table above.

The level 1 category 'Not stated' is a residual category.

Follow the link above the table to examine the classification.

Multiple responses could be provided to the question on sources of personal income. People reporting more than one source of income are counted in each category that they have stated. Therefore, the total number of responses in a table is greater than the census usually resident population count aged 15 years and over.

The 2023 Census classification for sources of personal income is consistent with that used in the 2018 Census.

Standards and classifications has more information on what classifications are, how they are reviewed, where they are stored, and how to provide feedback on them.

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Question format

Sources of personal income data is collected from the individual form (question 36 paper form).

There were differences in the way a person could respond between the modes of collection (online and paper forms).

On the online form:

  • respondents could tick as many options as required but it was not possible to mark both ‘no source of income’ and source(s) of income.

On the paper form:

  • respondents could also tick as many options as required, but it was possible to mark both ‘no source of income’ and source(s) of income.

Data from the online forms may therefore be of higher overall quality than data from paper forms. However, processing checks and edits were in place to improve the quality of the paper form data.

Stats NZ Store House has samples for both the individual and dwelling paper forms.

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Examples of how this data is used

Data-use outside Stats NZ:

  • combined with total personal income, to give a better indication of the socio-economic status and wellbeing of individuals
  • to distinguish market and non-market sources of income in income distribution analysis
  • to assist in examining inequity in income across ethnic and age groups, disabled, and rainbow populations
  • for formulating social and economic policy, planning, monitoring programmes, and research
  • in the determination of the Index of Socioeconomic Deprivation (NZDep). People receiving benefit payments is a dimension of deprivation used to create this index.

Data-use by Stats NZ:

  • to derive sources of family income, sources of extended family income, and sources of household income.
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Data sources

Alternative data sources were used for missing census responses and responses that could not be classified or did not provide the type of information asked for. The table below shows the distribution of data sources for sources of personal income data.

Data sources for sources of personal income data, as a percentage of census usually resident population count aged 15 years and over, 2023 Census
Source of personal income data Percent
2023 Census response 84.8
Historical census 0.0
Admin data 14.4
Deterministic derivation 0.0
Statistical imputation 0.8
 CANCEIS(1) donor's response sourced from 2023 Census form 0.8
 CANCEIS donor's response sourced from admin data <0.1
No information 0.0
Total 100.0
1. CANCEIS = imputation based on CANadian Census Edit and Imputation System
Note: Due to rounding, individual figures may not always sum to the stated total(s) or score contributions.

The following admin data sources were used, in priority order of use:
  • Inland Revenue
  • Ministry of Social Development
  • Working for Families.

The data sources have changed since 2018, when only Inland Revenue data was used. If a response could not be found using any of these data sources, missing information was filled using statistical imputation.

Note that when examining sources of personal income data for specific population groups, the percentage that is from admin data and statistical imputation may differ from that for the overall subject population.

Editing, data sources, and imputation in the 2023 Census describes how data quality is improved by editing and how missing and residual responses are filled with alternative data sources (admin data and historical census responses) or statistical imputation. The paper also describes the use of CANCEIS (the CANadian Census Editing and Imputation System) which is used to perform imputation. This webpage also contains a spreadsheet that provides additional detail on the admin data sources.

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Missing and residual responses

Missing and residual responses represent data gaps where respondents either did not provide answers (missing responses) or provided answers that were not valid (residual responses).

Where possible, admin data sources have been used to fill missing and residual responses in the 2023 and 2018 Censuses.

Percentage of ‘Not stated’ for the census usually resident population count aged 15 years and over:

  • 2023: 0.0 percent
  • 2018: 0.2 percent
  • 2013: 7.2 percent.

There were no other residual responses remaining in the data.

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Data quality processes

Overall quality rating: High
Data has been evaluated to assess whether it meets quality standards and is suitable for use.

Three quality metrics contribute to the overall quality rating:

  • data sources and coverage
  • consistency and coherence
  • accuracy of responses.

The lowest rated metric determines the overall quality rating.

Data quality assurance in the 2023 Census provides more information on the quality rating scale.

Data sources and coverage: High quality
The quality of all the data sources that contribute to the output for the variable were assessed. To calculate the data sources and coverage quality score for a variable, each data source is rated and multiplied by the proportion it contributes to the total output.

The rating for a valid census response is defined as 1.00. Ratings for other sources are the best estimates available of their quality relative to a census response. Each source that contributes to the output for that variable is then multiplied by the proportion it contributes to the total output. The total score then determines the metric rating according to the following range:

  • 0.98–1.00 = very high
  • 0.95–<0.98 = high
  • 0.90–<0.95 = moderate
  • 0.75–<0.90 = poor
  • <0.75 = very poor.

The high proportion of data received from 2023 Census forms, alongside the quality of the alternative data sources, resulted in a score of 0.97, which is a quality rating of high.

Data sources and coverage rating calculation for sources of personal income data, census usually resident population count aged 15 years and over, 2023 Census
Source of personal income data Rating Percent Score contribution
2023 Census response 1.00 84.83 0.85
Admin data 0.79 14.40 0.11
CANCEIS(1) nearest neighbour imputation 0.60 0.76 <0.01
No information 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total 100.00 0.97
1. CANCEIS = imputation based on CANadian Census Edit and Imputation System

Note: Due to rounding, individual figures may not always sum to the stated total(s) or score contributions.


Consistency and coherence: High quality
Sources of personal income data is consistent with expectations across nearly all consistency checks, with some minor variation from expectations or benchmarks, which makes sense due to real-world change, incorporation of other sources of data, or a change in how the variable has been collected.

The addition of admin data has resulted in some variations from expectations. ‘Other government benefits, income support payments, war pensions or paid parental leave’ source of income had a sharp increase in 2023. Census respondents were more likely to report the main benefit they receive, rather than all benefits. Admin data picks up all the sources of income (including all benefits) and this information was added to the 2023 Census file where there were missing responses. This category also includes working for families tax credits, which may not be counted as a source of income by some census respondents, but is counted from admin data.

Accuracy of responses: High quality
Sources of personal income data has only minor data quality issues. The quality of coding and responses within classification categories is high. Any issues with the variable appear in a low number of cases (typically in the low hundreds).

As mentioned in the section above, there is a tendency that people report their main benefit and tend to under-report other benefits and tax credits that also impact the accuracy of the responses.

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Recommendations for use and further information

Sources of personal income data can be used in a comparable manner to the 2018 and 2013 Censuses.

When using the data, users should be aware that there has been a change in methodology for admin data resulting in better coverage across sources in the 2023 Census.

The categories with improved coverage are:

  • no source of income
  • interest, dividends, rent, other investments
  • sole parent support
  • supported living payment
  • other government benefits, government income support payments, war pensions, or paid parental leave.

Care must also be taken when cross-tabulating sources of personal income with total personal income:

  • people may obtain income from more than one source
  • the time reference periods are different. Sources of income collects information for 12 months ending on 7 March 2023 (census night), while total personal income relates to 12 months ending 31 March 2023, in line with the tax year.

Comparisons to other data sources
Although there are surveys and sources other than the census that collect sources of income data, users are advised to familiarise themselves with the strengths and limitations of the sources before use:

  • Census aims to account for sources of personal income for all usual residents aged 15 years and over, while other sources such as the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) and the Household Economic Survey (HES) measuring this variable are based upon a sample of the population.
  • Census includes more sources of income than the HLFS, which only collects wages and salaries, self-employment, and government transfers income.
  • Both the HLFS and Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) provide more regular information on income sources than the census, collecting data on an annual basis.
  • Some differences between the census and the Administrative Population Census (APC) may be due to a mismatch between the census respondent’s view of what their income and income sources are and that derived from admin data. For example, an individual may not recall a short period of ACC payment they received earlier in the time period covered by the census question.
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Information by variables from previous censuses

To assess how this concept aligns with the variables from the previous census, use the links:

Contact our Information centre for further information about using this concept.



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Information

History

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Revision Date Responsibility Rationale
59 26/09/2024 10:00:58 AM