Maori and child deaths

A comment on Rodney Hide's blog suggests that of all the children killed (through maltreatment) over the past decade only two were not Maori.

As this seems a not uncommon perception it's important to set the record straight.

While we are sorely lacking on rigorous analysis a review of the deaths of children due to maltreatment was released in July last year. It showed, in the five years to 2003, the death rate for Maori children was 1.5 per 100,000 whereas for NZ European it was 0.7 per 100,000.

That equates to, on average, under 3 (2.76) Maori children killed each year compared to over 3 (3.26) for NZ European.

Those rates may have changed since but child death is still a rare occurrence. Media coverage and the prolonged nature of investigations and trials contribute to making their incidence seem greater.

While I'm on the subject there is a lot positive to be said for Maori statistics, especially in comparison to other minority groups. For instance look at their infant mortality rate;



By 2005 it had fallen further to 6.63 per 1,000 live births - a huge improvement over the past fifty years. By way of comparison the non-hispanic black infant mortality rate is 13.6 per 1,000 live births.