Hatches and despatches - who does what in New Zealand?

New Zealand babies are most likely to be helped into the world by a female midwife, according to the 2018 Census, and young children are far more likely to be taught by women, Stats NZ said today.

But our homes are most often built by men and our cars fixed by a male motor mechanic. Men are also more likely to be funeral directors.

"There were more than 1,000 different occupations listed in the 2018 Census," census general manager Kathy Connolly said.

"The list of occupations runs right through the alphabet from archaeologists (144) and blacksmiths (180) to youth workers (2,379) and zookeepers (258)."

There were 2,742 midwives, supporting mothers through their pregnancies, and almost all of them were women (99.7 percent). There were also 138 obstetricians and gynaecologists, of which 67.4 percent were women.

Primary school teachers were also predominantly women (more than 80 percent), though at secondary schools, men made up almost 40 percent of teaching staff.

"There are slightly more female than male solicitors and GPs in New Zealand," Ms Connolly said.

"However, in the home-building industry, which includes occupations such as construction project manager and builder's labourer, almost 9 in 10 workers are men."

"When life comes to an end, people are more likely to be laid to rest by a man, with around 60 percent of funeral directors being men. If you need flowers for the funeral, there are more than 1,400 florists in New Zealand, and almost all of them (97.2 percent) are women."

Occupations to help you through life

• 2,742 midwives
• 138 obstetricians and gynaecologists
• 30,798 early childhood teachers
• 33,519 primary school teachers
• 24,996 secondary school teachers
• 4,833 travel consultants
• 14,955 motor mechanics
• 5,616 general practitioners (GPs)
• 11,865 solicitors
• 9,888 aged or disability carers
• 1,410 florists
• 612 funeral directors.