In 2010, around three in four (76%) people agreed that smoking should be banned in all outdoor places where children go, an increase from 2008. In 2010, current smokers, people of European/Other ethnicity (compared with people of Asian ethnicity), and males were less likely to agree.
Methodology
In 2008 and 2010, all respondents were asked for their levels of agreement or disagreement (‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘neither agree nor disagree’, ‘disagree’, or ‘strongly disagree’) with the statement smoking should be banned in all outdoor places where children are likely to go.
Mean (average) agreement scores (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) from the 2010 HLS were calculated to compare responses by:
• Smoking status (current smokers: those who smoked at least monthly, and past smokers: those who had ever smoked but did not smoke at the time of the survey, compared with never smokers).
• Ethnicity (Māori, Pacific, and Asian people, compared with people of European/Other ethnicity).
• Neighbourhood deprivation status (high: NZDep2006 8-10 and medium: NZDep2006 4-7, compared with low: NZDep2006 1-3).
• Parent/caregiver status (parents/ caregivers of up to 16-year-olds, compared with those who were not parents/caregivers of up to 16-yearolds).
Differences in levels of agreement with this statement from the 2008 and 2010 HLS were also compared.
Key Results
Except where otherwise stated, findings presented here are for 2010 and relate to agreement with the statement that smoking should be banned in all outdoor places where children are likely to go.
• Around three in four (76%) people overall agreed.
• Support was high among current smokers (54%) and past smokers (76%), but highest among never smokers (86%).
• Nearly all people of Asian ethnicity agreed (95%), compared with around seven in 10 (73%) of those of New Zealand European/Other ethnicity.
• Around eight in 10 females agreed (78%), compared with around seven in 10 males (73%).
• People showed similar average agreement regardless of their socioeconomic background or whether they were parents/caregivers.
• People were more likely to ‘strongly agree’, and less likely to ‘disagree’ or ‘strongly disagree’ in 2010 than in 2008, indicating that New Zealanders are becoming more supportive of banning smoking in outdoor places where children are likely to go.