Sex, Migration And Aging: Demographic Overview Of A Dynamic Labour Market

This paper provides a broad overview of some of the demographic features of the work force in the context of the population as a whole. In this respect it differs from other papers in that it provides a background picture against which topics discussed elsewhere can be measured. The purpose is to provide context for discussion and a background to contextualise labour market research. The three key themes of sex, migration and change to identify the connection between the population and the policy drivers that impinge on the labour market

Changing sex ratios in New Zealand: Real change or a statistical problem?

In New Zealand, in all age groups under 20, and in key working age groups, historically there have been more men than women. Life table data suggest that, without migration, the number of males should remain greater than the number of females until around the age of 60 years. However, census data indicate that the number of New Zealand women residents relative to men in the broad 20-49 age group has been increasing since the 1980s. Given that birth ratios for New Zealand residents favour boys in common with international experience, the imbalance of women over men in the 20-49 age group has to come from four possible sources: 1) differential mortality; 2) more New Zealand born men leaving New Zealand; 3) a higher number of female immigrants; or 4) that statistical collections are undercounting men, and this undercounting has become progressively greater over the past 20 years. In this paper we focus on undercount and, through this investigation, raise some doubts about the validity of either a serious ‘man drought’ or a major 'surplus of women' in the population

Missing men and unacknowledged women: Explaining gender disparities in New Zealand’s prime adult age groups 1986 – 2006

Questions concerning the widening disparity in numbers of males and females in the prime working age groups in New Zealand’s population have attracted attention from researchers and the media in recent years. This paper reviews some of the findings from research for a FRST-funded programme that has been investigating several inequalities based on gender and ethnicity in New Zealand’s population. The analysis here complements and extends that in our paper published in the New Zealand Population Review in May 2006. Our main finding is that a complex combination of issues related to the way our stock (census) and flow (arrival/departure) data are used to compile population estimates (the base for population projections), have contributed to exaggerating apparent gender disparities in the 20-49 year age groups at successive censuses. There is no single explanation for this, and the main new finding from our analysis is that gender disparities in the prime adult age groups in New Zealand’s population are as much a function of ‘unacknowledged women’ as of ‘missing men’

Re-Gendering Of The Workforce: Women And Men In “Non-Traditional” Occupations And Industries

Many occupations and industries have traditionally remained the preserve of either men or women. In recent years, a range of campaigns and policies have focussed on equity for women and equality of opportunity for both men and women in the work force. This paper looks at some of the background, ongoing discrimination and the forces acting for and against gender balance which has brought about some re-gendering of occupations

Maori internal and international migration at the turn of the century: An Australasian perspective

At the beginning of the twenty-first century there were two major national clusters of Maori: New Zealand, the ancestral home for Maori, and Australia, home to a much smaller Maori population from the early years of the nineteenth century. In the 2001 censuses of New Zealand and Australia, the usually resident Maori populations were, respectively, 526,281 (ethnic group classification) and 72,956 (ancestry classification). In this paper we examine four dimensions of Maori population movement between 1996 and 2001 using the census data from New Zealand and Australia: 1) internal migration between rural and urban areas in New Zealand; 2) internal migration between rural and urban areas in Australia; 3) migration into New Zealand of Maori resident overseas in 1996; 4) migration into Australia of Maori resident overseas in 1996. There has never been a comprehensive assessment of Maori migration in an Australasian context before, but in the light of developments in population exchanges between New Zealand and Australia this sort of analysis is critical if one wishes to understand contemporary Maori population dynamics

Differential trends in the compression of mortality: Assessing the antecedents to current gaps in health expectancy in New Zealand

Health Expectancies (HEs) for New Zealand show significant differentials between Maori and non-Maori, but also by gender and period. These differentials correlate with findings from both generation and synthetic life-tables relating to New Zealand’s epidemiologic transition. At the beginning of that transition quartile 1 (Q(1)), and Median (Med) d(x) values were close and centred at young ages; during the transition the gap became very wide; at the transition’s end the gap again narrowed. Cohort and synthetic trends in d(x), l(x), M, Qs and Meds are reviewed and linked to recent HEs. Data point to epidemic polarisation. Cohort analysis allows the evaluation of the role of past experiences on the recent HEs, and thus point to possible strategies for reducing gaps in both d(x), and HEs

Occupational Transitions: A Cohort Analysis Of Transitions Between Occupation Classes 1981 To 2006

This paper is limited to presenting an initial look at the New Zealand Linked Census. The intention here is limited to describing the NZ Linked Census, providing an example of how this new dataset can be used in the wider context of labour market themes, and promoting the dataset as a powerful tool for new and ground breaking longitudinal research

Sex Ratios, Labour Markets and Partnering: Mid 1800s to 2006

In recent years the existence of an Antipodean ‘man drought’ has attracted considerable media attention. Australian demographer Bernard Salt first used this term in 2005 when highlighting unusual sex ratios in each country’s census. It has been suggested this ‘drought’ affects the ability of women to find male partners. However, unusual sex ratios are not new in New Zealand. In the early period of colonisation there was a shortage of women. Sex ratios are determined by three fundamental factors: births, deaths and migration, with migration having a particularly strong effect among the younger working age groups. Labour market demand has historically driven gendered migration flows and continues to do so. Until the middle of the 20th century New Zealand’s workforce was mostly male, of European ethnicity, and working in primary or manufacturing industries. The rise of service industries and increasing numbers of women in paid work has significantly changed the nature of the workforce. Absolute sex ratios potentially affect living arrangements. But, based on the idea that most women still seek male breadwinners as partners, United States researchers have suggested another important ratio: that of the number of employed men to the total number of women. We therefore consider long term changes in this ratio. Finally, we examine how living arrangements have changed from the mid 1800s through to 2006

The Origin, Family Structure and Labour Supply of Overseas Born Nurses

Although a third of nurses in New Zealand are born overseas, little is known about their composition. Among OECD countries, the reliance on overseas trained health professionals is currently strong and growing. Globally, as the population ages, and fertility rates decline, the demand for health professionals, particularly doctors and nurses is projected to increase over the next 20 years. It is estimated that in the OECD countries, 11 percent of employed nurses and 18 per cent of employed doctors were foreign born, however there are significant differences between the foreign-born and foreign-trained health professionals (OECD 2007). The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the origin of overseas-born nurses, their labour market outcomes and their family structures. In the OECD countries, the main countries of origin of foreign-born doctors and nurses are India and 1he Philippines respectively. In New Zealand nurses from Great Britain form the largest supply of migrant nurses followed by the Philippines. Overall, nurses were more likely to migrate as part of a family unit compared to other occupational groups like doctors, however differences were observed by nationality. The proportion of international nursing students has also grown, from 1 percent (of total enrolments) in 1995 to 7 percent in 2006. The proportion of registered nurses who were born in New Zealand has also changed and decreased from 82 percent in 1991 to 72 percent in 2006. These differences are more evident when examined by age groups. Our study illustrates that severe staff and skill shortage within the health systems of developed countries such as New Zealand has led to the rise in migration of nurses, leading to significant changes in the proportion of nurses who were horn in New Zealand and overseas. The shift from a primarily New Zealand born to an increasingly diverse nursing workforce raises some challenges and opportunities when delivering services to a diverse range of clients

Re-Gendering Of The Workforce: Women And Men In “Non-Traditional” Occupations And Industries

Many occupations and industries have traditionally remained the preserve of either men or women. In recent years, a range of campaigns and policies have focussed on equity for women and equality of opportunity for both men and women in the work force. This paper looks at some of the background, ongoing discrimination and the forces acting for and against gender balance which has brought about some re-gendering of occupations