Males have higher debt and income

In 2007, males earned a higher income than females, and left study the previous year with a higher average
student loan leaving debt, Statistics New Zealand said today. Males earned 13 percent more than females
($31,560 for males, $27,910 for females), but had an average leaving debt 9 percent higher ($15,370 for
males, $14,090 for females).

Males who left study in 2002 received an income 6 percent higher than females in the year after leaving
study ($26,160 for males, $24,620 for females). This gap had increased to 20 percent by 2007, with males
earning an average of $39,060 and females earning $32,680 five years after leaving study.

In 2007, all those who left study in 2006 were earning an average of $29,410, after having left with an
average leaving debt of $14,620. By 2007, students who had left study in 2002 were earning an average of
$35,650, and had repaid 21 percent of their average leaving debt of $13,210, while 34 percent had repaid
their loan in full.

Both males and females who left university had a higher debt than the average for all students but also
received higher incomes in later years. In 2007, university leavers had an average income of $35,980
($37,240 for males, $35,090 for females), having left study the year before with an average debt of $20,180
($21,520 for males, $19,210 for females). This average leaving debt is 38 percent higher than the average
for all students. By 2007 males who left university in 2002 earned an average of $50,240, 21 percent more
than the average for females, who earned $41,400.

Fewer students had fully repaid their loan on leaving study in 2006, compared with 2005 (11 percent in
2006, 12 percent in 2005). This may reflect the introduction of the interest-free student loan policy in 2006.
Full repayment on leaving study also decreased for students who left university in 2006 (11 percent in 2006,
13 percent in 2005). University leavers repay their loans at a higher rate than the average for all leavers. By
2007 university leavers had paid off an average of 25 percent within five years of leaving study, with 42
percent having fully repaid their loan.

Geoff Bascand
Government Statistician
18 December 2008
END

See also the Hot Off The Press information release Student Loans and Allowances: 2007.