Statement of Intent 2008 - Outcome Two: Working age people
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Enable people to live independent lives. All New Zealanders have access to services and the ability to obtain skills that will allow them to live healthy and productive lives and to achieve independence throughout their working lives.
What we are seeking to achieve
- working age people are in sustainable employments
- working age people participate more fully in their community
- working age people achieve a greater level of social independence
- people receive the right assistance at the right time
- people make informed study choices
- disabled people have opportunities and choices
What we will do to achieve this outcome
- we will support more New Zealanders to get into or stay in work and, for those not ready for finding work, advance their employment prospects and provide enhanced job search support
- we will enhance our case management to provide work development and community support for those unable to work in the foreseeable future
- we will improve education and training support
- we will support students to succeed in tertiary education
Departmental output expenses that contribute
Vote Social Development
- Collection of Balances Owed by Former Clients and Non-beneficiaries
- Management of Student Support
- Policy Advice and Support to Ministers (MCOA) Social Policy Advice Output Class Crown Entity Monitoring Output Class
- Services to Protect the Integrity of the Benefit System
- Tailored Sets of Services to Help People into Work or Achieve Independence
- Vocational Skills Training
Vote Veterans’ Affairs - Social Development
- Processing and Payment of Pensions
Vote Youth Development
- Youth Development
What we will do to achieve this outcome over the next three years…
We will support more New Zealanders to get into or stay in work and, for those not ready for finding work, advance their employment prospects and provide enhanced job search support
- provide employment placement, employment readiness training and development opportunities, and financial support
- research and evaluate significant social assistance and employment initiatives
- promote and report on progress in achieving the goals of the New Zealand Disability Strategy.
Programmes and initiatives to be delivered in the medium-term include:
- deliver Working New Zealand: Job Search Service – including work-related seminars
- develop new Industry Partnerships and maintain existing partnerships to better address employer labour needs and skills shortages
- provide Redundancy Support to employers and employees in a time of business change
- contract to deliver Youth Development programmes such as New Zealand Conservation Corps – through the Services for Young People Fund.
We will enhance our case management to provide work development for those able to work and community support for those unable to work in the foreseeable future
- enhance case management so that clients receive their full and correct entitlements
- protect the integrity of the benefit system by preventing and reducing benefit fraud and debt.
Programmes and initiatives to be delivered in the medium-term include:
- introduce of specialist roles to help provide the right services for people with ill health or a disability – regional health and disability co-ordinators, regional health and regional disability advisors and employment co-ordinators
- Settling In – Refugee and Migrant Social Services
- develop a joint approach to rehabilitation with ACC.
We will improve education and training support
- introduce improvements to a number of employment and training programmes with focus on the Training Incentive Allowance.
Programmes and initiatives to be delivered in the medium-term include:
- deliver the Skills Investment subsidy o provide financial assistance to people moving into work through the Transition to Work Grant
- deliver support funds for disabled people – eg for supported employment and interpreters.
We will support students in tertiary education
- administer student loans, student allowances and scholarships
- assist current and prospective students to make informed study choices.
Programmes and initiatives to be delivered in the medium-term include:
- deliver student services o help young people make wise decisions about their transition to tertiary education through On Course
- assist tertiary students in making informed choices about their study through StudyWise
- administer Step-up Scholarships
- amend Part 25 of the Education Act 1989 to improve administration of student loans and allowances
- implement the amendments to Part 25 of the Education Act 1989 to improve administration of student loans and allowances.
Policy advice
- provide policy advice on social assistance, labour market participation, skills, training and student support.
How we will demonstrate success in achieving this outcome
Indicators include employment rates, and the new measures, which are under development, that focus on sustainable employment.
| Outcome Indicators – working age people - employment | ||
|---|---|---|
| Indicator | Current | Trend |
| Percentage of population aged 15-64 employed (all ethnic groups) | 75.4% (2007) | Steady |
| Percentage of population aged 15-64 employed (Ma-ori) | 69.0% (2007) | Increasing |
| Percentage of population aged 15-64 employed (Pacific) | 64.2% (2007) | Increasing |
| Percentage of unemployed people who had been unemployed for six months or longer | 20.1% (2006) | Declining |
| Source: Statistics New Zealand, Household Labour Force Survey, annual average for year ended December. | ||
2008/2009 performance information
Work is proceeding on the development of high-level performance measures to support the contributing outcome – working age people are in sustainable employment. The standards in the table below will be reviewed in 2008/09.
| Performance measure | Standard 2008/2009 |
|---|---|
| Getting clients into work | |
| The proportion of job-seeking clients in receipt of a main benefit who exit into employment will be: | 35% |
| The proportion of job-seeking clients in receipt of a main benefit with a duration of six months or more, who exit into employment will be: | 35% |
| Clients remaining in work longer | |
| The average cumulative time that job-seeking clients, who exit into work, spend in employment over the course of a year will be | 37 weeks |
| The proportion of job-seeking clients who exited into employment and achieved six months continuous employment will be | 59% |
Measures are currently under discussion for the high-level outcomes of Employment, Community participation and upskilling, and Social inclusion.
Support for students
We will complete 20,000 StudyWise interviews either by phone or in person in 2008/2009. StudyWise and On Course programmes target information and advice at student loan applicants and secondary school students to help them make wise decisions about their study and borrowing.
How we will measure cost effectiveness of the interventions
Sustainable employment
Employment assistance is offered through Work and Income case management and employment and training programmes to assist clients into work. Work is continuing to monitor sustainable employment outcomes. While it is difficult to assess the cost effectiveness of case management on employment in isolation from other services and support provided, assessing the cost effectiveness on individual employment programmes has been explored. The cost effectiveness measure is the cost to increase the time participants are off benefit as well as the cost of employment assistance – the higher the value the less cost effective the programme.
In 2008/2009 further work will be undertaken to measure our efforts to achieve sustainable employment outcomes in relation to wider labour market conditions. The new measures will reflect the entirety of our activities to improve outcomes for working age clients.
Because employment assistance has traditionally focused on helping clients on unemployment related benefits, we know most about its effectiveness for this group. The table below summarises the evidence on what works for clients on unemployment related benefits, based on New Zealand and international evidence.
| Programme type | Evidence for programme effectiveness |
|---|---|
| Activation | |
| Mutual obligations (initiatives to maintain and increase activities by clients to find employment) | Effective at increasing the time unemployed people spend off benefit Makes the most difference for people who can easily move into employment |
| Preparation | |
| Careers advice (referral to specialist career advisors) | Effective at increasing job-seekers’ knowledge of career options It is difficult to establish a link between information services and subsequent employment outcomes |
| Training programmes | Mixed evidence on increasing time in further education and training Addressing the low skills of job seekers continues to be a challenge |
| Subsidised work experience (now Task Force Green) | Effective at increasing the time participants spend off benefit |
| Acquisition | |
| Job search assistance (seminar and group based programmes to teach job search skills and provide peer support) | Effective at increasing exits from benefit for unemployed people referred to the programme International research suggests it is the requirement to participate in job search programmes that makes these programmes effective |
| Placement service | Effective at increasing the time participants spend off benefit International consensus is that vacancy placement services play an important role in assisting job seekers into employment |
| Hiring wage subsidies (Skill Investment subsidy) | Effective at increasing the time participants spend off benefit |
| Self-employment assistance | Effective at increasing the time participants spend off benefit |
Students
We have a significant role in ensuring that students make good decisions about their financial investment in their study. We have recently developed a joint outcomes approach with Student Support partner agencies - the Ministry of Education and Inland Revenue. The three agencies are now working to define the key indicators and measures which will tell us how well we are achieving these outcomes.
