I've (clearly) had trouble blogging over the last month.
This is in part due to my new annual project, which involves writing one short story a month. Sounds simple - but given that up until January I'd only written one short story since maybe 1996, it's a good challenge for me but it does use up my time and energy.
But I digress.
The main reason I've struggled to blog is that I've been too angry to blog. The post that sits half finished in my draft pile is about racism in New Zealand. I wanted to post it in a timely fashion to all the recent shitty events that occurred earlier in the year but it just wasn't possible. Because I was too angry to post something heartfelt and rational that would be a good idea to put on the internet.
And I'm still angry. About racism still, but about something else too. The census. And on this issue my ideas are simple and communicable. So you get a post!
The census is carried out every five years and the reason we have a census is because (from the website):
'Information from the census helps determine how billions of dollars of government funding is spent across New Zealand. Because the information we collect is about everyone in New Zealand, it can be used to inform decisions and make plans about services and where they should be, such as hospitals, kōhanga reo, schools, roads, and public transport.'
So the census is quite an important thing to take part in. Also, according to the Statistics Act of 1975 we have a legal obligation to complete our census forms.
And honestly, that's ok with me. We need to know about the people who live here to get the right services to those who need them most. And I understand that personal obligation comes into this equation. But the level of obligation required for this years census seems unfair to the point I feel that it doesn't give all Kiwis an equal opportunity to be counted.
The Auckland Council has started using 'gender diverse' as an option for sex on its surveys. Because I do a lot of surveys online, I have become quite accustomed to seeing 'gender diverse' as an option. And while previous censuses have not had gender diverse as an option, I do not feel that is a good enough reason to continue ignoring that these people exist. If the Auckland Council can change, why can't Statistics New Zealand change too?
Because while I don't personally identify as gender diverse* I know a number of wonderful folk that do. So when I see a form that determines how billions of government dollars are spent, and that people I care about cannot even be accurately represented, I get pissed. Because, yet again, they are:
a) rendered invisible and
b) forced to conform to an identity which is not their own
And it's not as though they don't need representation. Folk in LGBTQI communities need more support! Bullying, suicide rates, mental illness, addiction, sexual abuse, having the shit kicked out of them by strangers - these are all issues that affect folk in our LGBTQI communities at much higher rates than in most other communities. And yes, only a small subsection of this community will identify as 'gender diverse'. Nevertheless, denying gender diverse or intersex folk the basic right of being represented accurately is just plain wrong.
As a comparison, for religion there is a text box option in which you can fill with the appropriate faith system. If they didn't want to include gender diverse as an option, why could they not have added 'other' with a text box like they did for religion? The counter argument here is, of course, that in the 2001 census we managed to have the highest population per capita of Jedi (as a religion) in the world** So it's easy to skew the census results - particularly in a small country like New Zealand. Even so, religion still has a text box option - but sex still does not.
As it is, I found in the Q&A section of the census: My sex is not male or female. How should I answer the sex question? The answer given is that you should call them on their 0800 number to discuss this. Why would anyone, for whom their gender or gender identity may have made life difficult, want to call someone to discuss how to describe their gender? This does not appear to be a well thought out solution.
And while friends have said please, request the paper form so you can voice your displeasure, I have heard that the forms are processed electronically. So even if you do voice your displeasure on the paper form it's highly likely your voice will go unheard regardless.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The even bigger issue I have with this census is that for the first time it is to be conducted almost entirely online. I understand that this is a much simpler (and cheaper) method of data collection. But it also makes a huge, and misguided assumption that all New Zealanders have equal access to internet. People in poverty cannot easily access internet. Elderly people that are not computer literate cannot easily use the internet. People in remote rural areas often still cannot even get internet.
Lets talk about these groups individually.
People In Poverty
So they can't afford internet at home - they can just go to their library. But can they though? People in poverty can't afford lunch or jackets for their kids. If they don't live close to a library, how are they going to scrape together bus-fare or petrol money to get to the library? But they can just post off the form to get a form sent out. Um, same issue here. Unless there is a post office within the route they revolve their daily lives around, how will they get there to post the form? And how will they get there again to send the forms back in? For some this would be twice as hard as getting to the library!
And how easy is it to use the computers in libraries anyway? I can tell you our local library (Waitakere) has a wait list for computer time most, if not all, of the time. As Henderson is a low income area with a growing rate of homelessness (many of whom bed down close to the library), this is one of the only places many folk can access the internet for free. When Daryl Evans chief executive of Māngere Budgeting Services Trust tried doing his census at his local library he said 'what could have taken 20 minutes ended up taking an hour and 15 minutes "because the site just kept shutting".'
Where will this man get his census form from?
Are they going to put it in his trolley?
How many homeless people do you know that have a letterbox? How will they get their codes in the first place? This is not a new issue. But it is an issue that affects a larger proportion of New Zealanders than it did during the last census. Currently, almost 1% of our population is homeless. We have the highest rates of homelessness in the OECD. And even if they desperately want to be counted to get the representation they desperately need, how do they get their census codes? And how do people with no permanent abode fill out the 'dwelling' section?
This is what my Mum has to say about this years census:
'It felt more like a caring nation when the census people came to your home. It felt that you mattered. Now it feels like society can't wait til the old, poor and disabled die out and then they won't be such a bother.' I don't think it's hard to understand why she thinks this way.
The Elderly
This is my Grandma. She was on Family Feud!
Not only is she tech savvy, but she has good
family support. Not all folk her age do though.
If they live in residential care - truly, there probably won't be too much of an issue. Their care provider will likely do it for them. Because it's kinda the rules (I think? It is with voting). But for the independent elderly that may not be as computer savvy as you or I - this may be difficult. The good thing is that many of them will follow the instructions on the form they got in the post and request the physical forms. But some of them won't. Probably a fair chunk will say fuck it! Why should I, with my arthritic hip/sore knee/busy voluntary schedule, go out of my way to do something for the government that didn't even bother to send someone here for me to talk to!
And for those who get to the library to give it a go - how many will manage to fill out the census online? With ever decreasing library budgets, it's not like their are a lot of librarians on the floor these days to help those struggling to work the interweb. And every time they do help someone with their census form that's one less librarian able to do the job they are actually paid for. I think if I were a librarian this would make me feel a bit stressed and angry. Most librarians have post graduate qualifications and a lot to do already. How did this become their responsibility?
Isolated Rural New Zealanders
If you live somewhere like the central suburbs of Auckland, it's easy forget that Fibre isn't everywhere. Actually, broadband isn't everywhere and believe it or not, there are even some areas of New Zealand that have no internet at all. For people in rural areas, completing an online form is just not possible unless they drive for 45 minutes and stand in a certain position at the top of a hill. Seriously. I am sure some of you don't believe me. I recommend you get your arse to a remote spot in Northland and try to watch a Youtube video.
Of course, again, they can request paper forms. But, again, this is a two part mission. People in isolated rural areas will live a long way from post boxes, and may only head into town as needed. It's not like they can just 'pop by the post office after work' - many of them work where they live - on farms. And for dairy farmers, it's not always that easy to 'just pop out' with heavy workloads and twice a day milking.
There are other groups for whom this will not be easy - new immigrants, refugees, those with literacy issues (which make up 1% of our population). But this post is already long. So I will stop here.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
So why do I care? I care because these groups need representation by the census. I care, because I am concerned that some of our most in-need communities will miss out on funding. Manurewa local board chair Angela Dalton said that (paraphrased): council receives 90% of its funding based on population count. Counties Manukau Health figures showed it treated 24,7000 more people than Stats NZ estimated were living in the area, a shortfall of $50,000 in their health budget. And that was from a census that was not carried out solely online. I expect that with further lack of representation, under-funding will drastically escalate after the 2018 census.
I do not care selflessly. This isn't just because poverty and lack of internet affects people I know and love. This is because in the future, this shortfall will directly impact on myself and my family. It will impact by way of longer hospital waiting lists, crowded classrooms, increased homelessness and all the other lovely things that accompany lacks in public funding. The longer we live with rising income inequality, the more this eats away at our society. And I have to live in that society. As do we all.
The solution? I am not 100% sure. But to start, they could send folk around to pop in and check that everyone has their code, understands what to do with it, and is able to use it. These days in suburban areas they could even carry an ipad with wireless and help them complete their forms. They could ensure that there were codes available, and iPads on loan at the Salvation Army and City Mission for a period of time to make it possible for those living on the street to take part in this census. They could have a system in place where runners could pick up filled in forms in rural areas on a set day.
Yes, all these ideas cost money. But there are much greater costs. And our children will be paying them.
* My relationship with gender is complicated. I believe strongly that gender is a social construct, and by this proxy I probably identify as female (cos feminist, advocate for woman's issues and equal rights etc). However, I feel a binary view of gender is limiting within our current society - in which case I'd probably prefer to be viewed as non-binary. But with nice tits.
** While I was sorely tempted to join the many in achieving this phenomenon, I opted for 'rock n roll' as my religion that year.
This is in part due to my new annual project, which involves writing one short story a month. Sounds simple - but given that up until January I'd only written one short story since maybe 1996, it's a good challenge for me but it does use up my time and energy.
But I digress.
The main reason I've struggled to blog is that I've been too angry to blog. The post that sits half finished in my draft pile is about racism in New Zealand. I wanted to post it in a timely fashion to all the recent shitty events that occurred earlier in the year but it just wasn't possible. Because I was too angry to post something heartfelt and rational that would be a good idea to put on the internet.
And I'm still angry. About racism still, but about something else too. The census. And on this issue my ideas are simple and communicable. So you get a post!
I usually get excited about the census.
This year it just made me sad and angry.
This year it just made me sad and angry.
'Information from the census helps determine how billions of dollars of government funding is spent across New Zealand. Because the information we collect is about everyone in New Zealand, it can be used to inform decisions and make plans about services and where they should be, such as hospitals, kōhanga reo, schools, roads, and public transport.'
So the census is quite an important thing to take part in. Also, according to the Statistics Act of 1975 we have a legal obligation to complete our census forms.
And honestly, that's ok with me. We need to know about the people who live here to get the right services to those who need them most. And I understand that personal obligation comes into this equation. But the level of obligation required for this years census seems unfair to the point I feel that it doesn't give all Kiwis an equal opportunity to be counted.
The Auckland Council has started using 'gender diverse' as an option for sex on its surveys. Because I do a lot of surveys online, I have become quite accustomed to seeing 'gender diverse' as an option. And while previous censuses have not had gender diverse as an option, I do not feel that is a good enough reason to continue ignoring that these people exist. If the Auckland Council can change, why can't Statistics New Zealand change too?
Because while I don't personally identify as gender diverse* I know a number of wonderful folk that do. So when I see a form that determines how billions of government dollars are spent, and that people I care about cannot even be accurately represented, I get pissed. Because, yet again, they are:
a) rendered invisible and
b) forced to conform to an identity which is not their own
And it's not as though they don't need representation. Folk in LGBTQI communities need more support! Bullying, suicide rates, mental illness, addiction, sexual abuse, having the shit kicked out of them by strangers - these are all issues that affect folk in our LGBTQI communities at much higher rates than in most other communities. And yes, only a small subsection of this community will identify as 'gender diverse'. Nevertheless, denying gender diverse or intersex folk the basic right of being represented accurately is just plain wrong.As a comparison, for religion there is a text box option in which you can fill with the appropriate faith system. If they didn't want to include gender diverse as an option, why could they not have added 'other' with a text box like they did for religion? The counter argument here is, of course, that in the 2001 census we managed to have the highest population per capita of Jedi (as a religion) in the world** So it's easy to skew the census results - particularly in a small country like New Zealand. Even so, religion still has a text box option - but sex still does not.
As it is, I found in the Q&A section of the census: My sex is not male or female. How should I answer the sex question? The answer given is that you should call them on their 0800 number to discuss this. Why would anyone, for whom their gender or gender identity may have made life difficult, want to call someone to discuss how to describe their gender? This does not appear to be a well thought out solution.
And while friends have said please, request the paper form so you can voice your displeasure, I have heard that the forms are processed electronically. So even if you do voice your displeasure on the paper form it's highly likely your voice will go unheard regardless.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The even bigger issue I have with this census is that for the first time it is to be conducted almost entirely online. I understand that this is a much simpler (and cheaper) method of data collection. But it also makes a huge, and misguided assumption that all New Zealanders have equal access to internet. People in poverty cannot easily access internet. Elderly people that are not computer literate cannot easily use the internet. People in remote rural areas often still cannot even get internet.
Lets talk about these groups individually.
People In Poverty
So they can't afford internet at home - they can just go to their library. But can they though? People in poverty can't afford lunch or jackets for their kids. If they don't live close to a library, how are they going to scrape together bus-fare or petrol money to get to the library? But they can just post off the form to get a form sent out. Um, same issue here. Unless there is a post office within the route they revolve their daily lives around, how will they get there to post the form? And how will they get there again to send the forms back in? For some this would be twice as hard as getting to the library!
And how easy is it to use the computers in libraries anyway? I can tell you our local library (Waitakere) has a wait list for computer time most, if not all, of the time. As Henderson is a low income area with a growing rate of homelessness (many of whom bed down close to the library), this is one of the only places many folk can access the internet for free. When Daryl Evans chief executive of Māngere Budgeting Services Trust tried doing his census at his local library he said 'what could have taken 20 minutes ended up taking an hour and 15 minutes "because the site just kept shutting".'
Where will this man get his census form from?
Are they going to put it in his trolley?
This is what my Mum has to say about this years census:
'It felt more like a caring nation when the census people came to your home. It felt that you mattered. Now it feels like society can't wait til the old, poor and disabled die out and then they won't be such a bother.' I don't think it's hard to understand why she thinks this way.
The Elderly
This is my Grandma. She was on Family Feud!
Not only is she tech savvy, but she has good
family support. Not all folk her age do though.
If they live in residential care - truly, there probably won't be too much of an issue. Their care provider will likely do it for them. Because it's kinda the rules (I think? It is with voting). But for the independent elderly that may not be as computer savvy as you or I - this may be difficult. The good thing is that many of them will follow the instructions on the form they got in the post and request the physical forms. But some of them won't. Probably a fair chunk will say fuck it! Why should I, with my arthritic hip/sore knee/busy voluntary schedule, go out of my way to do something for the government that didn't even bother to send someone here for me to talk to!And for those who get to the library to give it a go - how many will manage to fill out the census online? With ever decreasing library budgets, it's not like their are a lot of librarians on the floor these days to help those struggling to work the interweb. And every time they do help someone with their census form that's one less librarian able to do the job they are actually paid for. I think if I were a librarian this would make me feel a bit stressed and angry. Most librarians have post graduate qualifications and a lot to do already. How did this become their responsibility?
Isolated Rural New Zealanders
Of course, again, they can request paper forms. But, again, this is a two part mission. People in isolated rural areas will live a long way from post boxes, and may only head into town as needed. It's not like they can just 'pop by the post office after work' - many of them work where they live - on farms. And for dairy farmers, it's not always that easy to 'just pop out' with heavy workloads and twice a day milking.
Rural living in New Zealand - doesn't always come with internet
(Mosquito bay, near where I grew up in South Head. Wireless here,
but not on the Woodhill Forest side.
(Mosquito bay, near where I grew up in South Head. Wireless here,
but not on the Woodhill Forest side.
There are other groups for whom this will not be easy - new immigrants, refugees, those with literacy issues (which make up 1% of our population). But this post is already long. So I will stop here.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
So why do I care? I care because these groups need representation by the census. I care, because I am concerned that some of our most in-need communities will miss out on funding. Manurewa local board chair Angela Dalton said that (paraphrased): council receives 90% of its funding based on population count. Counties Manukau Health figures showed it treated 24,7000 more people than Stats NZ estimated were living in the area, a shortfall of $50,000 in their health budget. And that was from a census that was not carried out solely online. I expect that with further lack of representation, under-funding will drastically escalate after the 2018 census.
I do not care selflessly. This isn't just because poverty and lack of internet affects people I know and love. This is because in the future, this shortfall will directly impact on myself and my family. It will impact by way of longer hospital waiting lists, crowded classrooms, increased homelessness and all the other lovely things that accompany lacks in public funding. The longer we live with rising income inequality, the more this eats away at our society. And I have to live in that society. As do we all.
The solution? I am not 100% sure. But to start, they could send folk around to pop in and check that everyone has their code, understands what to do with it, and is able to use it. These days in suburban areas they could even carry an ipad with wireless and help them complete their forms. They could ensure that there were codes available, and iPads on loan at the Salvation Army and City Mission for a period of time to make it possible for those living on the street to take part in this census. They could have a system in place where runners could pick up filled in forms in rural areas on a set day.
Yes, all these ideas cost money. But there are much greater costs. And our children will be paying them.
Our kids are accounted in this census, but many other kids just like ours, will not be.
* My relationship with gender is complicated. I believe strongly that gender is a social construct, and by this proxy I probably identify as female (cos feminist, advocate for woman's issues and equal rights etc). However, I feel a binary view of gender is limiting within our current society - in which case I'd probably prefer to be viewed as non-binary. But with nice tits.
** While I was sorely tempted to join the many in achieving this phenomenon, I opted for 'rock n roll' as my religion that year.
Thank you young cuz.
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful way of putting into words many of the ideas and concepts that I think and feel.
Whilst our lives are vastly different, we have obviously touched many of the same diverse portions of society .
Which makes us much, much richer people.