Statement of Intent 2006 - Strategic directions
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Improved social outcomes are important because they improve the quality of life of individuals, families and communities and build the foundation for economic growth and national identity. Families and communities play a critical role in improving the wellbeing of individuals. Government’s activities affect how well families and communities function. If we continue to improve what we do in social areas then we should see improvement in New Zealanders’ wellbeing.
Government’s priorities for the next decade
The Government’s priorities for the next decade are economic transformation; families – young and old; and national identity.
Economic transformation focuses on transforming New Zealand’s economy to a high income, knowledge based market economy, which is innovative and creative and provides a unique quality of life to all New Zealanders. Economic transformation includes growing globally competitive firms, and building world class infrastructure and workplaces. These need to be underpinned by high standards in education, skills and research, and by environmental sustainability.
Much of our work directly supports the priority of economic transformation. We help people into sustainable employment; deliver programmes and services to build the skills of the New Zealand workforce; partner with employers to meet their demand for skilled workers; provide social protection for people who are temporarily or permanently unable to work; and provide assistance, information and advice to students entering tertiary education.
Families – young and old focuses on providing all families with the support and choices they need to be safe and secure, and for each member to reach their full potential. Achieving this priority requires close involvement with the communities that support strong families and are in turn enriched by them.
The Ministry’s policy, research, and services for children, families, communities, and older people all contribute towards the priority of families – young and old. We provide quality services to all families, including families experiencing particular difficulties; lead government work to reduce and prevent family violence; fund and support the community organisations that provide local services; and work across government to ensure that all the policies that affect families, like health, education, and positive ageing, work well together.
Our leadership of projects like The Social Report and Opportunity for All New Zealanders, and of the Health, Education, Social Development and Justice Chief Executives Group, helps to achieve the Government goal for cross-agency action that ensures all families, young and old, can reach their potential.
National identity focuses on enabling all New Zealanders to be able to take pride in who and what we are, through our arts, culture, film, sports and music, our appreciation of our natural environment, our understanding of our history and our stance on international issues. National identity is about who we are, what we do, where we live and how we are seen by the world.
We contribute to the priority of national identify through our work towards an inclusive society where every New Zealanders’ contribution is valued. This work covers every aspect of social development. We support people to participate in their communities, and our partnerships across government and communities help foster strong networks and social capital.
The Social Setting Today
This environmental scan summarises key social and economic trends and draws on the findings of The Social Report 2005.
Key trends affecting our work
Strong economic and employment growth
New Zealand has enjoyed a sustained period of strong economic growth, well above the OECD average, although growth is forecast to be slower over the next two to three years. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the OECD (3.6% at the end of December 2005). Over the past 10 to 15 years, labour force participation has steadily increased among all working-age groups.
Some groups, such as new migrants, young people, Maori, and Pacific people, have lower labour force participation rates, although their rates are increasing faster than those of other groups.
A changing client base
Unemployment Benefit numbers have steadily declined in recent years, and sole parents and people with ill health or a disability are now our biggest client groups. There are clear differences between these two groups: Sickness or Invalid’s Benefit clients are also our fastest-growing client group, while the number of Domestic Purposes Benefit clients has been declining over the last eight years.
As New Zealand’s population ages, in line with international trends, demand for our Senior Services is predicted to grow. We are in the process of developing a ‘Senior’s Card’ that will provide easy access to affordable government services. Our research, evaluation, and policy teams do extensive work on the implications of our ageing population, and what it will mean for work, family, and social settings.
Tailored services
The drop in unemployment numbers is allowing case managers to provide more tailored and work-focused services to other client groups. The new service for Sickness and Invalid’s Benefit clients uses a number of initiatives to help clients who want to work into work. Training, employment, and life skills programmes are helping sole parents move into work as their circumstances allow. Research and evaluation enables us to monitor our initiatives as we deliver them, and make enhancements as we need to.
These evaluations are also informing our work towards a Core Benefit, to be introduced in the future. The Core Benefit will simplify and modernise the social assistance system, reducing administrative layers to further free up case managers’ time to provide employment services.
The youth unemployment rate has declined steadily since 1998, but, at 8.6% in December 2005, is still substantially higher than the overall unemployment rate of 3.6%. We are focusing on youth employment with regional initiatives like Youth Transitions Services and Job Partnerships with Industry. These are part of our work to achieve the goal of the Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs: that every 15-19 year old is in work, training, or further education by 2007.
Young people entering tertiary education often have significant decisions to make about what courses of study are best for their future, and how they will finance the cost of their studies. We provide the StudyWise service, offering advice and information about study and financial choices; and we administer Student Loans and Student Allowances.
From 1 April 2007, around 350,000 New Zealand families will be receiving assistance from the Working for Families package, which we deliver in partnership with the Inland Revenue Department. Working for Families makes it easier to work and raise a family by providing higher levels of Family Support, an In-Work Payment (from 1 April this year), and increased childcare and housing assistance.
Diverse families and communities
The make-up of families in New Zealand has changed considerably over the last 10 years. Two parent families, sole parent families and blended or step families each make-up around one third of all families. The key change has been the increasing number of sole-parent and blended families.
Whatever form they take, most families cope reasonably well with the pressures and challenges of life, but some families need support. For some families and communities, violence, abuse, and neglect is a critical issue. For many families there are additional challenges in supporting a family member who is disabled.
The merger between the Ministry and Child, Youth and Family will add considerable strength to our work to support children, young people, and families. Family and Community Services leads and funds many community-based programmes that support families, such as SKIP and Strengthening Families. The Ministry leads the Te Rito: New Zealand Family Violence Prevention Strategy, and our research, evaluation, and policy teams provide vital evidence about the needs of families today.
New Zealand is becoming a much more diverse society, with communities of distinct ethnic and social identity. We have an increasing focus on delivering community-based services, and put high value on our relationships with the non-government organisations that often develop and deliver these services.
Many of our initiatives, such as the Family Violence Intervention Programme and Family Start, are delivered in partnership with non-government organisations and with other government agencies. We co-ordinate our local service delivery in communities with particular needs, such as the ‘one-stop-shop’ Housing New Zealand Corporation and Work and Income site in Mangere.
Our Outcome Framework
Our outcome framework has five high-level outcomes for key population groups and institutions, and one high-level strategic aim of leading social development. The framework supports our whole-of-government, whole-of-life approach to social development.
There are strong links between each of the outcome areas: the work we do to improve outcomes for families, for example, will contribute to improving outcomes for children and young people. As a whole, the framework contributes to better social outcomes for all New Zealanders. Reducing inequalities and improving outcomes for disadvantaged groups is a key priority within each outcome area.
Social Development for Disadvantaged Groups
Our outcomes describe what we want to achieve for children and young people, working age and older people, families, and communities. We recognise that some groups in New Zealand society, such as Mäori, Pacific peoples, migrants, people with disabilities, and families with low incomes, are more likely to experience disadvantage and have fewer opportunities. We also recognise that each of these groups is different and that they each have their own strengths. We reflect and recognise the importance of the social protection (safety net) and social investment (sustainable improvements) aspects of social development in the work that we do.
Our aim is to improve the overall wellbeing of New Zealanders. One way in which we do this is to reduce the inequalities experienced by disadvantaged groups. To be successful our work in reducing inequalities must focus on achieving sustainable improvements.
Reducing inequalities is an essential part of improving the overall wellbeing of New Zealanders, and is therefore an integral part of our work.
