What does Employment Change have in Store for the Unemployed in the 1990s?

Vasantha Krishnan

Both New Zealand and Australia have experienced major changes in employment trends and the labour market in recent years, which have challenged the structure and rationale of labour market and income support policies.

In response, the Australian government has produced policy initiatives for the reform of Australian labour market and social security systems. New Zealand’s social security system has been based on some of the same key assumptions; namely, that the normal pattern of work is full-time participation in the labour market until retirement and that unemployment is a finite period of short duration.

This report examines whether the trends in New Zealand’s labour market and social security systems are similar to those experienced in Australia, and examines whether similar responses may be appropriate for New Zealand.

The paper highlights the similarities between the two countries, including overall growth in unemployment (especially long-term and youth), growth in part-time work, increased female participation and decreased male participation in the labour force, but also notes key differences, including ethnic differences in unemployment rates, high levels of immigration in Australia, and New Zealand’s more severe economic recession in 1989-91.