Gloriavale population falls while 100 babies born, census shows
Gloriavale has the youngest population, highest birth rate, and lowest median income in the country, census data shows.
The Gloriavale Christian Community at Lake Haupiri on the West Coast has its own statistical area in the census data.
Other census data shows the median age is 12, the youngest in the country by far, with a national median age of 38.1 years.
No-one identified as LGBTQI+ in Gloriavale in 2023, compared to a national percentage of 4.9%.
The population was almost 100% European, with only three people identifying with another ethnicity and six identifying as Māori. A total of 51 said they had no religion, while 390 said they were Christian, three Jewish and 21 objected to answering the question.
The average number of children born to each woman is 4.6, compared to a national average of 2.1.
The median personal income was $19,500, compared to a national median personal income of those working in New Zealand of $41,500.
The Gloriavale population has dropped considerably since 2018, from 609 people to 468 people. During that time at least 101 babies were born as that was the number of 0 to 4-year-olds in the community.
Gloriavale Leavers Support Trust manager Liz Gregory said between 2018 and 2023 around 145 people left Gloriavale.
A further 58 people had left the community since 2023, she said.
Fourteen young, single people (averaged about 18 or 19 years old) left without their families in the past year, she said.
Her records showed about 270 people had left since 2013.
She believed there were still around 570 members, of whom about 370 were under 18.
A significant number, about 130, were not living at the main Haupiri site – rather on neighbouring community-owned properties.
No-one was receiving superannuation or other government benefits in 2013 and 2018, but in the 2023 census, 15 people were getting superannuation and 39 received other benefits.
A total of 75 people were working more than 60 hours a week in 2013 – but that dropped to nine people in 2023.
Since 2023, the Employment Court found Howard Temple, as Overseeing Shepherd, was the employer of men and women in the community when they worked in Gloriavale-owned businesses and the community’s kitchens, laundries and childcare centres. The leaders unsuccessfully claimed the workers were not employed, but volunteers.
In the 2023 Census, three Gloriavale people said the sector they worked in was owned by Central Government, 27 said they worked in agriculture, forestry and fishing, nine in manufacturing and 12 in education and training.
There was a big drop in people working in administrative and support services, from 183 in 2013, to 114 in 2018, to zero in 2023.
Out of 189 people aged 15 and over that usually live in the community, 21 (or 11%) had a bachelor degree, and three (or 1.6%) had a postgraduate or honours degree. Nobody had a masters.
In 2023, 37% of New Zealanders held a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Theophilia Pratt, who left the community nine years ago, said she, like other young people, left school at 15 to work in teams in the kitchen, laundry and sewing room.
She said young people, especially women, did not have access to education and career opportunities like other New Zealanders.
“They don’t realise they should be still at school at 15 or 16. They are living and working in Gloriavale and that’s all they’ve known.”
She said it was impossible to be a part of the LGBTQI+ community and live in Gloriavale.
It was a big culture shock to anyone leaving the community and entering outside world work environments, she said.
“They can’t move past the Gloriavale mindset. You are not allowed to think for yourself. Everything is controlled. Going into the outside world and a professional work environment is very difficult.”
She studied occupational therapy at university after leaving – a career option that would have been out of the question for her in Gloriavale.
A Gloriavale leader said: “We will not be commenting on this story.”