Changes in the Distribution of Work & Income in New Zealand
Paper prepared for the Future Incomes Conference, Palmerston North, 22 September 2000
Paul Callister
Introduction
In the paper, I firstly discuss broad long-term changes in employment rates, including the distribution of paid employment between women and men.[1] This is followed by some comments on changing hours of work, changes in work tenure and an assessment of whether it has been “McJobs” that have been growing. Then, focussing on the increasing importance of education in the labour market, I examine changes in the distribution of work within women as a group and men as a group. This is followed by a brief summary of New Zealand research on changes in the distribution of income for women and men.
The next section focuses on changes in the distribution of work between heterosexual couple households. It is in these households that the combined effects of changes in men and women’s patterns of paid work are most clearly evident.
I conclude by briefly examining some changes in the distribution of work on a geographic basis.
This analysis focuses mainly on people aged 25-59. While changes in work patterns of people under 25 and over 60 are important, the 25-59 age group is nevertheless the “core” period of paid work for most people.
Overall, I argue that work is not disappearing, but is unevenly spread across individuals, across households, and across geographic communities. In the past, gender was the key variable in this uneven distribution. At the beginning of the new millennium gender, while still important, has diminished as a predictor of employment status and education (or more accurately the lack of it) has increased in importance. In parallel to changes in employment, income has also become more unevenly distributed on both an individual and household level.
Changes in the distribution of paid work of individuals
Changes in employment rates
Figure 1 shows the percentage of working-aged men and women
(15-64) who were in paid work from 1956 to 1998.[2]
Despite a dramatic period of jobs loss in the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, in
the long term overall employment rates have not varied all that much. However,
the distribution of paid work between women and men changed substantially.
Figure 1
Source:
Derived from Chapple (1994, 1999)
Figure 2 shows that while the percentage of the working aged population who were in paid work stayed relatively stable over the whole time period, the percentage not in the labour force decreased. In addition, the percentage of working aged people classified as unemployed and seeking work increased. This indicates that an increasing proportion of the working aged population either wanted to be in work or needed to have a paid job. This trend will reflect a number of factors including changes in family / household type. For example, Snooks (1994) suggests that with a reduction in the number of people living in extended families more individuals need to either support themselves from work in the marketplace or need to turn to the state for financial support. In the 1950s, most of those not in the labour force (who were mainly women) were supported financially within families (mainly by males). In contrast, in the late 1990s / early 2000 more people (males and females) are supported by the state, while more women are supporting themselves financially through market-based work.
Figure 2
Source:
Derived from Chapple (1994, 1999)
Changes in hours worked
between 1986 and 1996
The hours worked per week data which is available from the census provides another way of assessing whether paid work carried out in New Zealand has been increasing or decreasing as well as the changing distribution of that work. The fact that hours worked by any one group are trending up or down carries no necessary implication about what is happening to work overall and may simply reflect a re-distribution of work. Census data shows that between 1986 and 1991 total hours in paid work in New Zealand decreased from just over 63 million to just over 56 million. However, total hours then increased to just under 70 million hours in 1996. Overall, total hours worked by people 15 or over increased between 1986 and 1996. Tables 1 and 2 show total hours worked divided by the total population aged 15 or more.[3] Overall, the data do not suggest a wholesale disappearance of work between 1986 and 1996, particularly when we note the rise in average hours between 1991 and 1996. However, Table 2 does show once again that the gender distribution of work has been changing.
Table 1 – Total hours and “averaged”
hours of paid work per total number of people in each age group, 1986-1996
|
|
Total hours (millions) |
Averaged hours per person |
|||||
|
Age
group |
1986 |
1991 |
1996 |
1986 |
1991 |
1996 |
1996* |
|
15-24 |
15.1 |
10.0 |
11.6 |
25.9 |
18.0 |
21.7 |
23.5 |
|
25-59 |
45.9 |
44.4 |
54.3 |
32.7 |
29.3 |
32.0 |
34.3 |
|
60+ |
2.3 |
2.0 |
3.7 |
4.8 |
3.8 |
6.5 |
6.7 |
|
15+ |
63.3 |
56.4 |
69.5 |
25.7 |
21.8 |
25.0 |
26.5 |
Source:
Derived from the Census of Population and Dwellings, Statistics New Zealand.
*
Excludes those unidentified and not specified in the calculation
Table 2 – Total hours and “averaged”
hours of paid work per total number of people aged 15 or more by gender,
1986-1996
|
|
Total hours (millions) |
Averaged hours per person |
||||
|
|
1986 |
1991 |
1996 |
1986 |
1991 |
1996 |
|
Male |
41.3 |
35.7 |
42.2 |
34.1 |
28.3 |
31.2 |
|
Female |
22.0 |
20.7 |
27.4 |
17.5 |
15.6 |
19.1 |
Source: Derived from the Census of Population and
Dwellings, Statistics New Zealand.
Table 3 shows changes in the distribution of work for prime working aged people (25-59) between 1986 and 1996. It shows that despite the very strong growth in part-time employment across the whole economy in this period, the proportion of prime-aged women working part-time stayed relatively stable.[4] However, Table 3 also shows a small increase in the proportion of women in the target age group working very short hours, as well as a strong increase in those working 50 or more hours per week and a smaller increase in those working 60 or more hours per week.[5] At the more extreme end of the weekly hours, there was a small decline in the proportion working 70 and 80 or more hours. Yet, due to an increase in employment rates and the population increase in 1996, a greater number of women were found to be working these very long hours than in 1986.
For prime-age men in paid work, there had also been a small growth in the proportion working very short hours. For the same group, there was also an increase in the proportion working 50 hours or more per week, a smaller increase in the proportion working 60 or more hour weeks, and marginal increases in the proportion working very long hours. There was a move away from a standard working week in both directions. That is, some people are working shorter and some longer hours. It is noteworthy that this movement occurred both before and after the introduction of the 1991 Employment Contracts Act.
Table 3 – Distribution of hours of paid
work for women and men aged 25-59, 1986-1996
% in each group
|
Women |
% working under 10 hours* |
% working under 30 hours* |
% working 40 or more hours*
|
% working 50 or more hours* |
% working 60 or more hours* |
% working 70 or more hours* |
% working 80 or more hours* |
|
1986 |
6.6 |
34.0 |
44.4 |
9.8 |
5.2 |
2.9 |
1.8 |
|
1991 |
6.7 |
32.5 |
46.9 |
11.8 |
5.9 |
3.0 |
1.8 |
|
1996 |
8.4 |
33.8 |
48.0 |
14.1 |
6.4 |
2.7 |
1.4 |
|
Men |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1986 |
0.8 |
3.3 |
87.9 |
32.4 |
15.0 |
6.3 |
3.1 |
|
1991 |
0.9 |
4.6 |
87.3 |
35.3 |
16.8 |
6.9 |
3.2 |
|
1996 |
1.9 |
6.1 |
88.0 |
40.2 |
19.0 |
7.1 |
3.3 |
Source:
Derived from the Census of Population and Dwellings, Statistics New Zealand.
*This
is a percentage of those gainfully employed and who specified their hours of
work
While more women worked part-time hours and a higher proportion of men worked 50 or more hours, Figure 3 also shows that the “standard” 40-hour week stills remains the largest single work category for both men and women.[6]
Figure 3
Source:
Derived from the Census of Population and Dwellings, Statistics New Zealand.
Table 4 further simplifies the changes in hours of work between 1986 and 1996 but also brings in those not employed. It shows the proportion of total prime-aged men and women not in paid work and the percentage employed who worked various hours. The table shows that while the overall patterns did not alter dramatically, there was still some significant change in the size of various groups.
Table 4 – Distribution (%) of people aged
25-59 by workstatus, 1986 and 1996
|
Hours
per week |
1986 |
1996 |
Change 86-96 |
|
Male
under 30 hours |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Female
under 30 hours |
10 |
11 |
1 |
|
Male
30-49 hours |
31 |
22 |
-9 |
|
Female
30-49 hours |
17 |
17 |
0 |
|
Male
50 or more hours |
15 |
16 |
1 |
|
Female
50 or more hours |
3 |
5 |
2 |
|
Male
not in paid work |
4 |
9 |
5 |
|
Female
not in paid work |
19 |
18 |
-1 |
|
Total |
100 |
100 |
|
Source:
Derived from the Census of Population and Dwellings, Statistics New Zealand.
Finally, Figure 4 brings in some age analysis of changes in full-time work. The four graphs show patterns of full-time paid work for men and women based on a measure of 20 or more hours of work. This measure is chosen so the data can be compared directly with the work of David Thomson (1999). The patterns for the 25-39 age groups are shown separately from those aged 40-59. The scales on the graphs for men and women are the same so they can be directly compared.
Figure 4
