Movements Into and Out of Child Poverty in New Zealand: Results from the Linked Income Supplement

This paper considers the dynamics of child income poverty in New Zealand. Annual movements into and out of poverty by children's households in New Zealand over the 1997/98, 1998/99, and 1999/2000 periods are analysed. The annual Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey allows tracking of dwellings and people in two consecutive June quarterly weeks, and thus allows observation of changes in equivalised household disposable income over a June year. This project is the first to use the Linked Income Survey for analysis of income dynamics and is part of the Ministry of Social Policy's ongoing research on family dynamics. New Zealand adult and child poverty transitions are compared. Child poverty transitions in New Zealand are compared and contrasted to those of five other countries-Britain, Germany, Hungary, Russia and Spain-where a similar current income measure of poverty is available. The frequency of poverty "trigger events" in New Zealand and their impact on the chances of children exiting and entering poverty are compared to similar data for Britain and West Germany.Child poverty, household income, income mobility

Internal Migration and Regional Adjustment: Some Preliminary Issues

In this paper we examine the link between local labour market adjustment and internal migration. We use census data to provide a range of labour market indicators, and measures of movements of people between locations. We then consider the relationship between internal migration and regional labour market adjustment, examining the importance of accounting for persistent regional differences, international migration, and how similar locations are. We provide some preliminary estimates of labour market - migration links, building on the foundation of a simple gravity-model relationship

Local Job Flows in New Zealand

Small changes in the level of employment are generally the result of a large number of jobs being created and a roughly balancing number of jobs being destroyed In this paper we examine patterns of job creation and destruction for local labour markets in New Zealand between 1987 and 2003. The growth or decline of employment in local labour markets is far from homogeneous. The paper focuses on whether local labour markets experience greater employment growth following periods of high rates of simultaneous job creation and destruction (job churn). However, we find little evidence to support this hypothesis. The estimated effect of the level of job churn on future employment growth, within labour markets, was found to be statisticallyand economically insignificant

Every student counts: promoting numeracy and enhancing employability

This three-year project investigated factors that influence the development of undergraduates’ numeracy skills, with a view to identifying ways to improve them and thereby enhance student employability. Its aims and objectives were to ascertain: the generic numeracy skills in which employers expect their graduate recruits to be competent and the extent to which employers are using numeracy tests as part of graduate recruitment processes; the numeracy skills developed within a diversity of academic disciplines; the prevalence of factors that influence undergraduates’ development of their numeracy skills; how the development of numeracy skills might be better supported within undergraduate curricula; and the extra-curricular support necessary to enhance undergraduates’ numeracy skills

Local Job Flows in New Zealand

Small changes in the level of employment are generally the result of a large number of jobs being created and a roughly balancing number of jobs being destroyed In this paper we examine patterns of job creation and destruction for local labour markets in New Zealand between 1987 and 2003. The growth or decline of employment in local labour markets is far from homogeneous. The paper focuses on whether local labour markets experience greater employment growth following periods of high rates of simultaneous job creation and destruction (job churn). However, we find little evidence to support this hypothesis. The estimated effect of the level of job churn on future employment growth, within labour markets, was found to be statisticallyand economically insignificant