New Zealand

1.Series

Title:

Number of registered unemployed.

Starting year:

1952.

2.Agency making the initial registrations of unemployed persons

Name of the agency:

Work and Income.

Type of agency:

Public service under a national authority.

Name of the national authority:

Ministry of Social Development.

Location of the local offices making the registrations:

Work and Income has around 170 frontline offices throughout the country; 144 of these are full-time offices.

Type of services provided/administered by the agency:

Assisting job-seekers to find jobs;

Assisting job-seekers to establish their own business;

Assisting employers to find workers;

Vocational guidance;

Job-related training;

Income support.

3.The following information is registered about a person:

Client identification;

Name (first name, middle name, family name, preferred first name, any alias);

Gender;

Residential address (and if applicable postal address);

Date and place of birth;

Ethnicity;

Educational level, with nine categories distinguished;

Type of work (occupation) of past or present job. Work history is recorded as free text, and occupations are not coded;

Type of work (occupation) of job sought, with 25 groups distinguished ("NZSCO" classification, five digit level);

Name of present or previous employer or work place (employment history - length of time employed and type, i.e. full-time or part-time);

Previous registrations with the agency/service;

Other: detailed qualifications and skills; disabilities, or other barriers to employment; access to transport; whether driving licence holder; telephone number; partner’s name; maximum hours available for work; enrolment date; employment status (unemployed or partially employed).

4.Criteria used for inclusion of a person in the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

Being without work (can be employed part-time, i.e. less than 30 hours a week, and wish to extend hours or gain full-time employment) (R) and (S);

Seeking work (as defined in individual action plan developed with case manager) (R) and (S);

Availability for work (R) and (S);

Age (lower limit: 16 years; no upper limit) (R) and (S);

Citizenship (R) and (S);

Being resident in the country (R) and (S);

Other: study and training: being in part-time study or training (persons in full-time study or training cannot register as job seekers) (R) and (S).

5.Criteria used for exclusion of a person from the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

Death (R) and (S);

Taking up residency abroad (R) and (S);

Commencement of a (new) full-time job (R) and (S);

Participation in certain employment promotion schemes (such as "Task Force Green"), public works programme, etc. (R) and (S);

Studying full-time or undergoing full-time training (R) and (S);

Failure to contact the agency/service for 14 weeks (if not recipient of a "work tested benefit") (R) and (S);

Refusal of suitable job offers (at least four consecutive refusals for recipients of "work tested benefit"; no formal criteria for non recipients of this benefit) (R) and (S);

Refusal of suitable training offers (at least four consecutive refusals for recipients of "work tested benefit"; no formal criteria for non recipients of this benefit) (R) and (S).

6.Definition of unemployed persons used for the statistics

To be registered as a job seeker, a person must be:

not working and seeking work, or working less than 30 hours a week and seeking to work more hours; and

available for work (not already in full-time employment or fulltime study or training); and

aged 16 years or over (or aged 15 with an exemption from the Ministry of Education to leave school early and seek full-time work); and

resident in New Zealand; and

legally entitled to work in New Zealand (i.e. a citizen of Australia or New Zealand, a permanent resident of New Zealand, a holder of a New Zealand work permit, or a person born in the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau).

7.Updating of the registers

The registers are continually updated.

8.Unemployment rates

Statistics from the registers are not used to obtain unemployment rates.

9.Type of statistics of unemployed persons produced

Series 1:

Monthly register

Reference period:

Last day of month.

Frequency of production:

Monthly.

Descriptive variables used:

Gender;

Age;

Educational level;

Geographic characteristics;

Duration of unemployment;

Income support received;

Ethnicity;

Disability;

Case management group;

Marital status;

Age of youngest child.

Form of publication:

For internal use only.

Agency responsible for publication:

Ministry of Social Development.

Title and periodicity of the publication:

Monthly register.

Series 2:

Quarterly Client Profile.

Reference period:

Last day of quarter.

Frequency of production:

Quarterly.

Descriptive variables used:

Gender;

Age;

Educational level;

Geographic characteristics;

Duration of unemployment;

Income support received;

Ethnicity;

Work test status;

Participation in employment programmes.

Form of publication:

On paper, for general audience;

On a website (www.msd.govt.nz).

Agency responsible for publication:

Ministry of Social Development.

Title and periodicity of the publication:

Quarterly Client Profile.

Series 3:

Annual Statistical Profile.

Reference period:

Last day of financial year.

Frequency of production:

Yearly.

Descriptive variables used:

Gender;

Age;

Educational level;

Geographic characteristics;

Duration of unemployment;

Income support received;

Ethnicity;

Participation in employment programmes.

Form of publication:

On paper, for general audience.

Agency responsible for publication:

Ministry of Social Development.

Title and periodicity of the publication:

Annual Statistical Profile.

10.Methodological information about the statistics

Summary methodological information is included in the above-mentioned publications.

Form of release:

On paper, for general audience;

On a website (www.msd.govt.nz).

Agency responsible for the release:

Ministry of Social Development.

11.Comparisons with unemployment statistics from other sources

Comparisons are made once a quarter with unemployment statistics from the Household Labour Force Survey (the official measure of unemployment, in accordance with ILO criteria, administered by Statistics New Zealand).

Comparisons were made in 2001 with unemployment statistics from the 1996 Census of Population.

Publication of the methodology/results of the comparisons:

These have not been published.

12.Major changes since the start of the statistics

Major changes in legislation, capacity of the agency and/or administrative procedures took place in:

1997: Introduction of work testing of persons receiving selected income support;

1999: Extension of persons receiving work testing of income support to include additional benefits and spouses/partners of persons receiving some income support.

Work testing of persons receiving income support and their spouses required that the persons receiving work tested benefits were also registered as job-seekers, whereas previously they were not required to register as job-seekers.