Quality Statement
This information by concept is primarily about type of couple by gender. There is a suite of couples variables that are closely related, and further information is available in the Appendix for the following related variables:
- Age of female partner in different-gender couple
- Age of male partner in different-gender couple
- Age of partner of another gender in different-gender couple
- Age of older partner in same-gender couple
- Age of younger partner in same-gender couple.
A couple comprises two people who are partnered with each other.
Note that to be defined as a couple in the census, a couple must live in the same household.
Type of couple by gender indicates whether two people are a different or same gender couple and provides detail on whether different-gender couples are female-male, female-another gender or male-another gender, and whether same-gender couples are female, male or another gender.
Type of couple by gender: Moderate quality
Data quality processes section below has more detail on the rating.
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).
Type of couple by gender 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 type of couple by gender remains the same as 2018.
The 2023 Census: Final content report has more information on priority ratings for census concepts.
Type of couple by gender: Couples with or without child(ren) in occupied private dwellings
‘Subject population’ means the people, families, households, or dwellings that the variable applies to.
Type of couple by gender is classified into the following categories:
Standard classification of Type of Couple by Gender V1.0.0 - Level 1 of 2
| Code | Category |
|---|---|
| 1 | Different-gender couple |
| 2 | Same-gender couple |
| 3 | Couple type by gender unidentifiable |
Type of couple by gender uses a 2-level hierarchical classification with level 1 categories presented in the table above. The level 1 category ‘Couple type by gender unidentifiable’ is a residual category.
This classification has changed since the 2018 Census to reflect the conceptual shift from sex to gender-based couples data in 2023. Follow the link above the table to examine the classification and find more detail.
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.
Type of couple by gender is derived from information about the people who usually live in the household: usual residence (question 5 on the paper individual form), living arrangements (question 17 on the individual paper form), relationship to reference person (questions 18 and 21 on the paper dwelling form), gender (question 3 on the paper individual form) and age which is derived from date of birth (question 2 on the individual paper form or alternatively question 18 or 21 on the paper dwelling form).
For more information on question format for:
- households, families, extended families, see Count of families and households – 2023 Census: Information by concept
- gender, see Gender – 2023 Census: Information by concept
- age, see Age – 2023 Census: Information by concept
Stats NZ Store House has samples for both the individual and dwelling paper forms.
Data-use outside Stats NZ:
- by central government agencies, local authorities, private organisations, and researchers in the formulation of social policy, for planning and monitoring programmes, and for research purposes.
Data sources for individuals included in households and families are from either census responses or admin enumerated records in occupied private dwellings.
The data source for households can be from census responses only, admin enumerations only, or a mixture of both census responses and admin enumerations. Methodology for using admin data to count people in the 2023 Census has more information about admin enumeration.
Blank households are private dwellings containing no census respondents or admin enumerations, but where a household of usual residents would be expected.
| Data sources used to derive family and household data – households in private occupied dwellings | |
|---|---|
| Source of household counts | Percent |
| Household from census forms | 92.3 |
| Admin enumerated household | 3.1 |
| Household from both census forms and admin enumeration | 1.2 |
| Blank household | 3.5 |
| Total | 100.0 |
| Note: Due to rounding, individual figures may not always sum to the stated total(s). | |
For admin enumerated records and where information from census forms was missing, relationship information from historical census data and admin data was used. Sources of admin relationship information include:
- Department of Internal Affairs births, deaths, marriages, and civil unions
- Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment visa applications
- Ministry of Social Development partnership and child data
- Working for Families tax return details.
For the purposes of household and family coding for the 2023 Census, admin relationships were restricted to partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren.
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, alternative data sources have been used to fill missing and residual responses in the 2023 and 2018 Censuses.
Type of couple by gender does not have a non-response category. There is one residual category, ‘Couple type by gender unidentifiable’, which has no data in 2013, 2018 or 2023.
‘Families and Households in the 2023 Census: Data sources, methodology and data quality’ will have more information on missingness in household and family data. A link to the paper will be available from late 2024.
Overall quality rating for type of couple by gender: Moderate
Data has been evaluated to assess whether it meets quality standards and is suitable for use.
Three quality metrics contributed to the overall quality rating:
- data sources and coverage
- consistency and coherence
- accuracy of response.
The lowest rated metric determines the overall quality rating.
Note, all couples variables share the same data sources and coverage, and accuracy of responses quality ratings.
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 a data source 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:
- 98–100 = very high
- 95–<98 = high
- 90–<95 = moderate
- 75–<90 = poor
- <75 = very poor.
For type of couple by gender, this is derived from the sources used to place individuals into households. The data source ratings represent the likelihood that the correct people are placed within the correct household.
The proportion of individuals enumerated via census response, along with the lower proportions of admin enumeration and people missing from households resulted in a score of 0.96, leading to a quality rating of high.
| Data sources and coverage rating calculation for households in occupied private dwellings, 2023 Census | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Source | Rating | Percent | Score contribution |
| Household from census forms | 1.00 | 92.27 | 0.92 |
| Admin enumerated household | 0.76 | 3.09 | 0.02 |
| Household from both census forms and admin enumeration | 1.00 | 1.17 | 0.01 |
| Blank household | 0.00 | 3.47 | 0.00 |
| Total | 100.00 | 0.96 | |
| Note: Due to rounding, individual figures may not sum to the stated totals(s) or score contributions | |||
Consistency and coherence: Moderate quality
Type of couple by gender data is mostly consistent with expectations across consistency checks. There is an overall difference in the data compared with expectations and benchmarks, which can be explained through a combination of real-world change, incorporation of other sources of data, or a change in how the variable has been collected.
Type of couple by gender is new to 2023 Census. Historically, couples data was based on sex. This is the first census collection of gender, which includes the ‘another gender’ category. The conceptual change from sex to gender, and inclusion of a new category, mean there is no time series available for comparison. There is some variation depending on the gender makeup of the couple.
Female-male couples were 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.
Male couples, female couples, and couples where one partner is of ‘another gender’ were slightly higher than expectations, this is primarily due to the conceptual shift from sex to gender and the introduction of the ‘another gender’ category, for which no time series data is available.
Proportions for couples where both people are of ‘another gender’ are slightly higher than expected when compared with data from household surveys. As ‘another gender’ couples are a small population, some quality issues with a small number of responses may affect data. Inconsistencies may be apparent when cross-tabulating with other small populations.
Accuracy of responses: High quality
Accuracy of responses were assessed through the quality of the methods for completing the relationships in the household matrices and also analysis of people missing from households.
Accuracy of responses for gender was rated as very high. There were some smaller issues related to the quality of received and coded responses relating to text responses of the ‘another gender’ category.
Type of couple by gender data has only minor data quality issues. The accuracy of coding for the household matrix is high. Any issues with the data appear in a low number of cases.
There were significant changes introduced in the 2023 Census that impacted the counting of households and quality of household matrices. These were:
- improvements in the methodology for using admin relationships to construct families and households when census relationships were missing.
- more extensive checks for errors, and higher quality manual corrections for households that had errors due to a dedicated and larger family coding manual intervention team.
- higher quality repatriation of people to the dwelling they usually live in.
These changes improved quality and accuracy of the data.
‘Families and Households in the 2023 Census: Data sources, methodology and data quality’ will have more information on the data quality of household and family data. A link to the paper will be available from late 2024.
It is recommended that type of couple by gender data can be used in a comparable manner to the 2018 and 2013 Censuses.
When using this data, users should be aware that:
- Not all people counted in the census usually resident population are part of the derivation of households and families, eg people who were admin enumerated at a meshblock rather than a dwelling level and people living in non-private dwellings. In addition, there are dwellings that were not occupied at the time of the census or not counted in the census. This means there will be families, extended families and households that are not counted in census outputs.
- Care should be taken when looking at the time series as there were changes to the collection strategy, processing system, and household and family coding methodology between the 2013 and 2018 Censuses, and further improvements made to these for the 2023 Census. These improvements mean household and family data is of a higher quality in the 2023 Census compared to previous censuses.
- The quality of relationships within households in the 2023 Census is higher than in previous censuses, including those for more complex households and households containing at least one member of the Māori or Pacific Peoples ethnic groups.
- Couples data based on gender are new to 2023 Census, previous censuses provided information on type of couple by sex. Gender and sex are conceptually different, so care should be taken when doing time series comparison.
- Caution is advised for couples containing people under the age of 15 years due to known data quality issues remaining in these cases.
- Alternative data sources like imputation have a lower level of accuracy at an individual level and lower accuracy for another gender. Care is recommended for analysis of small categories at lower levels of geography and detailed breakdowns because couples variables include gender from alternative data sources.
- Caution is advised for couples where both members are of another gender due to data quality issues remaining in these cases, and the lower accuracy of alternative data sources for this category.
- The ‘same-gender another gender’ couples category reflects that both members in the couple are of another gender, but it is important to be aware that these partners can have different genders within another gender.
‘Families and Households in the 2023 Census: Data sources, methodology and data quality’ will have more information on changes to the methodology and data quality of household and family data. A link to the paper will be available from late 2024.
Information about this concept was not published in previous censuses.
Contact our Information centre for further information about using this concept.
All couples variables carry the same data sources and coverage and accuracy of responses quality ratings, both ratings are high for all outputs. The lowest rated metric determines the overall quality rating, therefore a consistency and coherence score lower than high will impact the overall quality rating of the variable.
| Quality ratings for related variables | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Overall quality rating | Data sources and coverage | Consistency and coherence | Accuracy of responses |
| Age of female partner in different-gender couple | High | High | High | High |
| Age of male partner in different-gender couple | High | High | High | High |
| Age of older partner in same-gender couple | Moderate | High | Moderate | High |
| Age of partner of another gender in different-gender couple | High | High | High | High |
| Age of younger partner in same-gender couple | Moderate | High | Moderate | High |
Different-gender couples 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.
Same-gender couples data is mostly consistent with expectations across consistency checks. There is an overall difference in the data compared with expectations and benchmarks, which can be explained through a combination of real-world change, incorporation of other sources of data, or a change in how the variable has been collected.
The proportion of same-gender couples is slightly higher than expected. Factors contributing to this are the impact of the conceptual change from sex to gender, and that there were some same-gender couples that had both members reported their sexual identity as heterosexual. This may be due to both gender and sexual identity being self-identified.
It is recommended that all couples variables can be used in a comparable way to the 2018 and 2013 Censuses.
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