Selected 2010 Publications

Latest Papers | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | Earlier Papers

[PDF files on this page need Acrobat reader]

Ethnic mobility: is it important for research and policy analysis?

Paul Brown, Paul Callister, Kristie Carter and Ralf Engler
Available from Institute of Policy Studies [358KB PDF]

Abstract: While some within the research community have long been aware of ethnic mobility, the growth of the New Zealander response in the 2006 census demonstrated to the wider public that ethnic responses can change over time. Subsequent New Zealand studies of ethnic mobility highlight that it is important especially for Māori and Pacific people.

While the current ethnic measures used in official statistics are sufficiently robust for most of the policy uses made of them in New Zealand, the dynamic nature of ethnic identity poses some problems for consistent statistical measurement of ethnicity. As such, there needs to be ongoing monitoring, investigation and discussion by researchers to progress understanding of ethnic identity dynamics over lifecycles and over time.

This is required not only to ensure measurement quality, but to broadly map the changing cultural fabric of New Zealand society, and in particular to identify more clearly where disadvantage lies.

"Essential" workers in the dairy industry

Paul Callister and Rupert Tipples
Available from Institute of Policy Studies

Abstract: Over the past decade the dairy industry has grown in land area, number of cows, milk production and dairy exports to the point where it is New Zealand's premier exporter. This growth has been associated with significant structural changes to the industry.

In particular, there has been a widespread conversion from small, family-owned and managed farms that were traditionally characterised by high levels of self-employment to large-scale "factory" style farms that are dependent upon non-family, mainly casualised, and partially seasonal labour who typically work long hours.

Not surprisingly, the industry has been plagued by issues of recruitment and retention of employees and its social sustainability has been in question.

The future of the dairy industry to a large degree depends on its people. In both the shorter and the longer terms a migrant component to the dairy farm labour force will be essential.

There is a question as to whether this migrant labour can be provided in a way that gives benefits to all stakeholders as has been achieved so far via the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme for horticulture and viticulture.

A profound change in the dairy industry may be necessary to ensure that stakeholders make the effort necessary to negotiate such a multi-win outcome. That needs to be supported by an evidence base to ensure an enduring rather than a temporary solution.

The Mysterious Case of the Housemaid: Domestic Workers in New Zealand Law

Jessie Williams, Lisa Tortell and Paul Callister (2009 [published in 2010]),
New Zealand Law Review, Part 4: 695-723.

Abstract: In New Zealand, domestic work was once an important source of paid employment for women, with shortages of workers met by migration from the British Isles. While it had almost disappeared as a paid occupation after the Second World War, a number of reasons suggest a likely increase in paid domestic workers in the near future, probably met, again, by migration.

Nevertheless, little is known about New Zealand's domestic workers and on the face of it, many of the arrangements appear to be labour-only relationships between the homeowners and the workers. However, paid domestic work fits uncomfortably with labour law, principally because the workplace is the private home. This has meant that, overall, paid domestic work has, in a variety of ways, been a private matter in New Zealand, with the law left to attempt reconciliation between the roles and responsibilities of the "employer" and the homeowners' mentality that one's house is one's castle.

At the international level, the International Labour Organization has decided to include the issue of standard-setting on the agenda of the 99th Session of the International Labour Conference in 2010. This, but more importantly the demands of the ageing population, will make the place of domestic workers in New Zealand law a more current question, necessitating an analysis of how they are presently covered by the law, whether the precariousness and vulnerability that characterize much of the overseas experience can be seen on the ground in New Zealand and whether further legal regulation, or at the very least a review, is required.

Older Women - Younger Men Relationships: The Social Phenomenon of 'Cougars'. A Research Note

Zoe Lawton and Paul Callister, January 2010
Available from Institute of Policy Studies

Abstract: Couples where the woman is significantly older than her male partner currently have a high prominence in national and international media and in popular culture. The women in such arrangements have attracted a colloquial label, 'cougar'.

This arrangement represents a break from the past when generally the male was the older partner. Our initial analysis of census data suggests that the extent of the older woman - younger male couple is exaggerated by the media. Nevertheless, the data indicate it is an important group and its size does seem to have been growing since the 1980s, at least for those living together in the same households.

Like other researchers we also suspect that the number of couples where the woman is older who form long-term relationships is considerably smaller than the number of such couples who have had short-term relationships.

Our brief canvassing of theories of partner choice suggests there are social and economic reasons for further growth of this type of partnering arrangement. If there is further significant growth, it is likely the somewhat negative predatory term 'cougar' will disappear or at least change its current connotations.

Changes in paid work for mid-life couples between 1981 and 2006: A research note

Paul Callister, Martin von Randow, David Rea and Gerard Cotterell, January 2010
Available from Institute of Policy Studies

Abstract: Major changes in paid work and living arrangements have taken place for mid-life men and women in New Zealand since the early 1980s. When the variables are looked at independently, we find fewer such men and women living as couples, fewer men and more women in paid work, and fewer men and women living with dependent children.

When these variables are brought together we see an increasing diversity of living arrangements (including whether a person lives with children) and work arrangements. This includes some growth in the proportion of women and men who are not employed, not partnered, and not living with children. When only those living in couples are considered we also see an increasing diversity of work arrangements.

This diversity has emerged over periods of economic decline and economic growth. However, some of this diversity could also be characterised as polarisation with growth in both work-rich and work-poor couples. Although a strong labour market to 2006 substantially reduced the proportion of work-poor couples, they were not back to the proportions seen in 1981 or 1986.

This lends some support to the Gregg and Wadsworth (1994) hypothesis that recessions in recent decades increase the number of work-poor households, but in times of strong economic growth do not reduce the number of work-poor households to the same extent. In addition, within the work-poor couples, a larger proportion has both partners not in the labour force, indicating perhaps a higher level of disconnect from the labour market than seen in the past.

Latest Papers | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | Earlier Papers