NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Opinion: Losing the Stats NZ lottery - when form filling turns into a five-hour ordeal

James Pocock
By James Pocock
Chief Reporter, Gisborne Herald·Hawkes Bay Today·
6 Mar, 2023 01:33 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

James Pocock and his flatmates spent over five hours in total answering questions after being randomly selected for a Stats NZ Household Economic Survey. Photo / Unsplash Scott Graham
James Pocock and his flatmates spent over five hours in total answering questions after being randomly selected for a Stats NZ Household Economic Survey. Photo / Unsplash Scott Graham

James Pocock and his flatmates spent over five hours in total answering questions after being randomly selected for a Stats NZ Household Economic Survey. Photo / Unsplash Scott Graham

James Pocock
Opinion by James Pocock
James Pocock is the chief reporter for the Gisborne Herald.
Learn more

OPINION:

Some of you may be dreading the thought of spending 20 minutes filling out the census this year.

But my three flatmates and I have already had five hours of our time taken up by Statistics New Zealand data gathering.

At the start of February, before Cyclone Gabrielle hit Hawke’s Bay, we found out our Hastings household was selected to participate in the annual Household Economic Survey (HES).

Pretending to not be home does not get you out of a Stats NZ door-knock.

Start your day in the know

Get the latest headlines straight to your inbox.
Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The letter left behind invites you to set your own time for them to return and kindly informs you that you could be prosecuted for refusing.

Read More

  • Hawke’s Bay Airport evacuated over alarm activation ...
  • Aerial images of Hawke’s Bay cyclone aftermath help ...
  • Petition to keep police Eagle helicopter in Hawke’s ...
  • Hawke’s Bay Airport evacuated over alarm activation ...

We didn’t see any ‘estimated time required’ provided with the information sheet, so we all booked it with little idea what we were in for.

Stats NZ estimates that the interview generally takes about 20 to 40 minutes for each person in your household, depending on which version of the survey a household has been selected for.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We weren’t excited about it, but I thought it couldn’t possibly take longer than two hours for our household of four people.

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
    • captions off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      And then on a miserable summer evening, the interviewer came. And 5.30pm became 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, 10, and then, finally, 11pm.

      It was three hours into questioning us as individuals when we were finally informed that we could answer some questions as a group.

      Before that belated piece of advice, I was essentially trapped in the house, hovering around thinking I was unable to start anything like dinner or a shower, because I might be called up at any moment.

      About 9.30pm we were asked if we wanted to end it and have the survey continue another day, but by that point we all just wanted it over and done with.

      At 11pm, we were then told as individuals to keep a comprehensive diary of our spending for a week, with receipts included if remembered.

      Our experience is not unique - our interviewer told us it was not the first time she had been interviewing at a house until 11pm.

      Households are selected for HES surveys every year, and everyone has a chance to get hit with this unexpected and compulsory time sink.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      A letter came from Stats NZ in the mail a few days later, which I half-heartedly opened while wondering if it would contain some compensation for our time.

      The letter explains that Government agencies use the information collected to help develop policies and make decisions.

      Our expenditure data feeds into the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the country’s official inflation rate (rate of price change) and can be used to adjust the benefit and New Zealand Superannuation rates, among other things.

      I get that, but you can’t convince me that the experience was worth it.

      Subscriber benefit

      The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

      Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
      Save

        Share this article

        Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

      Latest from New Zealand

      New Zealand

      'Lots of frost': NZ braces for sub-zero chill, possible 'heavy rain' before Matariki

      16 Jun 08:21 AM
      New Zealand

      'Sharp instincts': $7.5m meth haul intercepted by Customs

      16 Jun 08:19 AM
      New Zealand|crime

      Tribesmen's alleged 'hotbox' murder after gang member's unauthorised online shopping

      16 Jun 07:30 AM

      How one volunteer makes people feel seen

      sponsored
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Recommended for you
      Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka
      Sponsored Stories

      Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

      16 Jun 12:00 PM
      'Lots of frost': NZ braces for sub-zero chill, possible 'heavy rain' before Matariki
      New Zealand

      'Lots of frost': NZ braces for sub-zero chill, possible 'heavy rain' before Matariki

      16 Jun 08:21 AM
      'Sharp instincts': $7.5m meth haul intercepted by Customs
      New Zealand

      'Sharp instincts': $7.5m meth haul intercepted by Customs

      16 Jun 08:19 AM
      'Good Samaritan': Off-duty officer sucker-punched while trying to stop shoplifters
      Crime

      'Good Samaritan': Off-duty officer sucker-punched while trying to stop shoplifters

      16 Jun 08:00 AM
      Air attack on Israeli cities after strikes in central Iran
      World

      Air attack on Israeli cities after strikes in central Iran

      16 Jun 07:59 AM

      Latest from New Zealand

      'Lots of frost': NZ braces for sub-zero chill, possible 'heavy rain' before Matariki

      'Lots of frost': NZ braces for sub-zero chill, possible 'heavy rain' before Matariki

      16 Jun 08:21 AM

      Much of the South Island is set to plunge below 0C tonight and tomorrow.

      'Sharp instincts': $7.5m meth haul intercepted by Customs

      'Sharp instincts': $7.5m meth haul intercepted by Customs

      16 Jun 08:19 AM
      Tribesmen's alleged 'hotbox' murder after gang member's unauthorised online shopping

      Tribesmen's alleged 'hotbox' murder after gang member's unauthorised online shopping

      16 Jun 07:30 AM
      Foreign Minister Winston Peters speaks amid the Israel/Iran conflict

      Foreign Minister Winston Peters speaks amid the Israel/Iran conflict

      Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka
      sponsored

      Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

      NZ Herald
      • About NZ Herald
      • Meet the journalists
      • Newsletters
      • Classifieds
      • Help & support
      • Contact us
      • House rules
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of use
      • Competition terms & conditions
      • Our use of AI
      Subscriber Services
      • NZ Herald e-editions
      • Daily puzzles & quizzes
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven Car Guide
      • iHeart Radio
      • Restaurant Hub
      NZME
      • About NZME
      • NZME careers
      • Advertise with NZME
      • Digital self-service advertising
      • Book your classified ad
      • Photo sales
      • NZME Events
      • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
      TOP
      search by queryly Advanced Search