Almost two-thirds of Kiwis belong to a club or organisation, Statistics New Zealand said today. In keeping with a nation that takes great pride in the All Blacks, Silver Ferns, and All Whites, sporting clubs are the most popular.
New analysis from the 2014 New Zealand General Social Survey shows 64 percent of New Zealand adults belonged to a club, and 6 percent of us belonged to four or more clubs.
The article shows 28 percent of club members belonged to a sporting club, followed by 21 percent in religious organisations. Only 2 percent of adults said they belonged to a political group.
“We know that being part of a club helps build a sense of solidarity between people,” social statistics manager Diane Ramsay says.
“People in clubs develop friendships with people from diverse backgrounds, and also gain access to a greater variety of support and resources than they can have as individuals.”
Most club members (3 out of 4 people) preferred talking to each other face to face as their main way of staying in contact with each other.
“We also found that older people (65 years and over) were the most likely to be members of a club, although for sports, this does tail off with age. By contrast, people of prime working and parenting age (25–44 years) had the lowest club membership – possibly because they’re more likely to struggle to find the time,” Ms Ramsay said.
See How do we connect through club membership? for more information about how belonging to clubs links us.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.