Working Papers

Working papers are designed to stimulate debate about policy and research issues. They are part of ongoing work and facilitate discussion between interested researchers and policy makers. They are not presented as policy documents. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Social Development. Please contact the corresponding author listed on the working paper if you would like to comment on the scope of the work or aspects of it. Authors can be contacted at the Ministry of Social Development.

Working Papers 2019

Working Paper 02/19 Stats NZ Child Poverty Statistics release, 2 April 2019: MSD Background and Overview

This background paper sets the Stats NZ Child Poverty Statistics in the context of the longer time series published in MSD’s Household Incomes Report and the companion reports on material wellbeing which use non-income measures.

Working Paper 01/19 - Material hardship measures for the Child Poverty Reduction Act (CPRA)

This background paper on EU-13, DEP-17 and MWI-24 is a contribution to MSD discussions with Stats NZ regarding the material hardship measures to be used for the Child Poverty Reduction Act, as a part of the consultation process required by the Act.

Working Papers 2017

Working Paper on the Impact of Teen Parent Units on Young Mothers’ Educational Outcomes 

Teen Parent Units (TPUs) aim to improve access to schooling and to promote positive educational outcomes for teenagers who are pregnant or parents. They provide wrap-around support, early childhood education for children, and links with health and social services.  This study estimates that TPUs have large positive impacts on teen mothers’ school enrolment and attainment.

Working Papers 2013

Working Paper 01/13 Assuring retirement income

Author: Tom Berthold

This paper addresses the problem of decumulation of savings in retirement. The decumulation problem is how to secure and draw down our retirement savings so as to maintain our relative standard of living, without running out of money.

Working Papers 2009

Working Paper 01/09 - New Zealand Living Standards 2008

This report outlines the methodological and conceptual underpinnings for non-income measures of material wellbeing, and gives the first findings from the 2008 Living Standards Survey, including international comparisons of material hardship using non-income measures.

Working Papers 2007

Working Paper 01/07 - The Economic Living Standards Index (ELSI): another look at the underlying construct and some of the headline findings in 'New Zealand Living Standards 2004'

This paper provides a detailed analysis and assessment of the ELSI measure with particular reference to the underlying conceptualisation of living standards that ELSI reflects and the implications of this for understanding changes of ELSI scores from one survey to the next.

Working Papers 2006

Working Paper 01/06
Small area estimates produced using loglinear models in SAS – discussion and implementation

This paper provides a cost-effective approach to creating new regional information in small domains from existing sources to meet specific regional information needs

Working Papers 2005

Working Paper 02/05
Sustainable Employment

The report provides a brief summary of: employment policies (highlighting recent policies); the issues associated with changing labour supply and demand; a review of international approaches and recommendations for further research; and policy development.

Working Paper 01/05
Immigration and Social Cohesion

This working paper sets out some preliminary thinking about the purpose and feasibility of building a coherent indicator framework to monitor the impact of settlement policies on social cohesion.

Working Papers 2004

Working Paper 08/04
The Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index: Insights for New Zealand

Describes the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index and recommends next steps for New Zealand to improve its social wellbeing reporting framework, with the focus moving from current wellbeing to encompass the wellbeing of future generations.

Working Paper 07/04
Wellbeing, Employment, Independence : the views of Sickness and Invalids’ Benefit clients

This working paper presents the findings and conclusions from a joint Ministry of Social Development and Victoria University of Wellington research project that sought to uncover insights about the subjective points of view of Sickness and Invalids’ Benefit clients on wellbeing, employment and independence.

Working Paper 06/04
Polarisation of Employment, 1986–2002: New Zealand in the international context

In recent years, researchers have identified a growth in both “work-poor” and “work-rich” households in several OECD countries, including New Zealand. This growth indicates an increasing concentration of paid employment at the household level – “polarisation” – which represents a divergence between individual- and household-based measures of joblessness.

Working Paper 05/04
Thinking about the configuration of services in the care and protection sector

This working paper is concerned with how to think about the configuration of services in the care and protection sector, and the sort of evidential and research platform that is required to ensure that care and protection services meet demand and effectively address the needs of children and young people who are abused and/or neglected or who persistently demonstrate antisocial behaviours.

Working Paper 04/04
Barriers to employment among long-term beneficiaries: A review of recent international evidence

This working paper documents the recent international literature on the topic of potential barriers to employment among working-age beneficiaries, with a particular focus on long-term beneficiaries.

Working Paper 03/04
Assessing the adequacy of private provision for retirement: A living standards perspective

This paper presents a living standards perspective on the adequacy of private provision of retirement income. It focuses on overall asset accumulation rather than solely on retirement income.

Working Paper 02/04
The effects of the Accommodation Supplement on market rents

This working paper investigates the effects of the Accommodation Supplement on market rents. Analysis is undertaken by Infometrics, who have updated the econometric model of market rentals they produced in 1999 for the Housing New Zealand Corporation.

Working Paper 01/04
Movements into and out of Child Poverty in New Zealand: Results from the Linked Income Supplement

This paper considers one dimension of the family environment facing children, that of income poverty. It is part of the Ministry of Social Development's research programme on family dynamics, which focuses on the link between family environment and child outcomes.