Dynamic Deprivation Index
Measuring socio-economic deprivation in near real-time.
Up-to-date information on where the ‘haves’, and the ‘have-nots’ are within the country is essential for government and many private sector organisations.
Deprivation relates to almost every aspect of life including:
- health
- gambling
- educational attainment
- assault rates
- mental health
- alcohol use
- smoking
The DDI tracks changes in deprivation to keep an eye on which communities are flourishing, and which are going off-track.
With monthly updates of the index, the DDI enables us to quickly see which initiatives work, and where action is needed.
The DDI will change the way we apportion resources to help grow the well-being of all New Zealanders.
The DDI has been validated through academic peer review and has many use cases, including published manuscripts. The methodology is close to the well-validated NZDep studies.
How does it work?
01
DOT holds datasets measuring each of these dimensions for every Area Unit* in New Zealand. We use principal components analysis to combine the dimensions into a single deprivation score.
02
The index is anchored to the value of NZDep13 at March 2013, so that you can think of the DDI as picking up where NZDep13 left off. For each month since March 2013, we update the index with the latest data.
03
The deprivation index is made from the score by ranking area units into deciles. Each area unit is given an index between 1 and 10, where 1 is doing really well (the best 10% of New Zealand), and 10 is very deprived (the worst 10%).
Why DDI?
No one else in the world is measuring deprivation on a monthly basis
The alternatives (NZDep and NZIMD) provide infrequent snapshots of deprivation levels.
Academically validated
DDI methodology has been published in a peer reviewed journal.
Able to see if interventions work
Because of the dynamic nature of the DDI, changes over short time frames can be measured. This enables linking events/interventions to deprivation.
Combines public and proprietary data sources
Proprietary data sources are used to derive a dynamic and multifaceted measure of material deprivation.
Data released to users every six months
Census data released approx every 5 years and it takes over one year from the Census date to publication of NZDep.
The need for DDI is growing as we move to a post-census New Zealand
Lower census response rates make the need for alternative data sources stronger.
