For about the last two decades real incomes would have fallen for most households had they not compensated by working extra hours.

The young people of today are the first generation in over 100 years to be worse off than their parents. Even the generation born c.1900 became better off than their parents, despite the hardships of the Great Depression.

Careers as we knew them are a thing of the past.

One-third of jobs identified in the May 2000 Quarterly Employment Survey are part-time. If we add casual jobs not covered by the QES, casual or part-time self-employment and persons working in family businesses without pay, that figure would increase to about 40%. Adding short duration or seasonal full-time jobs to the casual category suggests that up to half of New Zealand's employed rely on casual work. Many people want but are unable to get more paid work.

Given that the labour force also includes the unemployed, we can conclude that over half the labour force are income insecure. And that ignores the many jobless "discourages workers" who are classed as "not in the labour force".

The labour surplus is probably two to three times the official rate of unemployment, with Maori and Pacific Island joblessness at least double the average. Yet the economy continues to grow.

There appears to be a down-skilling in many sectors and the new 'McJobs' tend to be insecure and low paid.

Will the labour market meet the income needs of the majority in the future? What are the options, both nationally and locally? What are the issues? How do we deal with them?

This may be the first conference in New Zealand to focus on these issues.

The Conference is not an end in itself, but a focal point, a profile raiser that will help us to understand the rules of a game that will be played, whether we are ready or not. We need to discuss the issues up front and work out how we want to deal with them.

The proceedings of the Conference will be written up and additional submitted papers included. Those attending the conference will be sent a copy and they will also be published on the Internet.