21 Aug 2014

Inequality between races 'widening'

8:06 pm on 21 August 2014

A new study by Victoria University shows inequality gap between Maori and Pasifika, and Pakeha has widened on a number of measures, including obesity and unemployment.

The study looked at 21 indicators including health, employment, knowledge and skills, and found inequality has increased over the past 10 years.

Researchers found worsening outcomes for Maori and Pacific people and even in cases where the disparity is reducing, the gap with Pakeha is often large.

The largest increases were in cigarette smoking, obesity, suicide and unemployment.

However, there were improvements in life expectancy at birth, infant mortality and early childhood education participation.

Researchers say the growing gap clearly warrants greater Government attention.