NZDep91: a New Zealand index of deprivation

A new index of poverty, or deprivation, has been devised for New Zealand based on census data. Previous indices lacked appropriate theoretical underpinning and relied on relatively large areas that masked variation within them. The new design is based on the smallest possible geographical areas and ten age and gender variables, and has been found to strongly correlate with mortality, lung cancer registrations, and hospital discharges.