Hello again, Jay (and the social-policy mail list - intentionally included
this time!)
You may be interested in the following paper that I presented at the
Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference in Melbourne last year.
It was co-authored by my colleague, Peter Larose. It can be found in the
list of conference papers on the AIFS website: www.aifs.org.au
"Changing Expectations: Sole parents and employment in New Zealand"
Abstract:
When sole parent benefits were introduced in New Zealand in the early 1970s,
the aim of policy was to provide an adequate level of income that would
enable parents to provide full-time care for their children. In the 1990s,
the direction of policy has moved towards promoting self-reliance through
participation in paid work. Part of the rationale for this change was that
the proportion of sole mothers employed had declined from 40 percent in 1976
to 27 percent in 1991 and was very low by international standards. The
latest population census showed that the rate of employment among sole
parents had recovered to 36 percent in 1996. The proportion of sole parent
benefit recipients with income from employment has also increased, from 19
percent in June 1996 to 22 percent in June 1997.
This paper reviews recent developments in sole parent policy in New Zealand
and examines changes in the benefit system, the labour market, and the
characteristics of sole parents which may explain the trends in sole
parents' employment rates. It also assesses the likely impact on employment
rates from the most recent policy changes (1998) and concludes by raising
issues to be considered in the near future.
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This paper will also be published, in a revised form, in Issue 12 of the
Social Policy Journal of New Zealand (June 1999). A background paper on the
development of sole parent policy in New Zealand appeared in Issue 10, June
1998.
Kay Goodger
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