The Effect of Household Composition on Occupancy Rate
by
Theva Thevathasan
Statistics New Zealand, Wellington

In New Zealand household occupancy rates(average houshold size), have been falling throughout the twentieth century. The average houshold size has declined from 5.2 persons per household in 1886 to as low as 2.8 persons household in 1996.

The household composition (whether two parent family, sole occupancy, etc.)plays an important role in driving down average household size. The changes that occur within each household type exert either a positive or negative impact on the overall occupancy rate. In this study a method was derived to measure quantitatively the effect of household composition in driving down the overall occupancy rate to the present level. The results of this analysis may be important for housing policy makers.

The paper also suggests other areas that this method could be applied too. For example, the change in unemployment over years could be apportioned to groups with different educational levels and their net effect on the overall unemployment rate calculated.

Date received: August 16, 2000

Copyright © 2000 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # cadt-21.