Registered Job Seekers

Overview

A registered job seeker is a person:

• working less than 30 hours per week
• seeking to work more hours
• available for and actively seeking work.

While registered job seekers remain eligible for a wide range of employment and training assistance offered by Work and Income, they form only one group among the clients whom Work and Income assist.

Registered job seekers include:

• people who are required to register as job seekers because they, or their partner or spouse, are receiving a work-tested benefit
• people who choose to register with Work and Income as part of seeking work, to obtain assistance with finding work.

Clients receiving a range of benefits, and their partners or spouses, are subject to a work test and may therefore be required to register as job seekers. Work-tested benefits are:

• Unemployment Benefits - client and partner/spouse both subject to work test
• Sickness Benefits - partner or spouse subject to work test
• Invalid's Benefits - partner or spouse subject to work test.

Between 1 February 1997 and 10 March 2003, some clients receiving a Domestic Purposes Benefit or Widow's Benefit were also work tested.

Clients subject to a work test are required to actively seek, and to make themselves available to take up, suitable paid employment. Other obligations on work-tested clients that were introduced during the 2003/2004 financial year include:

• taking pre-employment drug tests if required by a prospective employer (from October 2003)
• commuting to seek and undertake paid work if there is no such work available in their local area and they are receiving an Unemployment Benefit (from March 2004).

From 1 July 2001, all work-tested clients have been required to enter into a Job Seeker Agreement with Work and Income. The Job Seeker Agreement sets out the assistance that Work and Income will provide to assist the job seeker to obtain employment, and the steps that the job seeker will take to find employment or to improve their prospects for doing so. The Job Seeker Agreement must specify job search activities and may include employment or training programmes to be undertaken by the job seeker (eg a period of work experience or employment-related training).

Clients in receipt of a Sickness, Invalids or Domestic Purposes Benefit have a Personal Development and Employment Plan (PDEP). The PDEP contains goals to assist the client to work towards social development or employment outcomes, and a set of action points that will help them achieve these goals. It could also contain work-related activities.

The number of registered job seekers is an administrative statistic that differs from, and is usually higher than, the number of officially unemployed. See Definition of the officially unemployed and a summary of key differences between registered job seekers and the officially unemployed

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Trends in the number of registered job seekers

Decreases in the number of registered job seekers since 2004 (see table 3.33) reflect both improved economic conditions and the impact of policy and operational changes. These changes include an increased emphasis on placing job seekers into paid work.

Since 2004, the proportion of working age registered job seekers who were aged 50-64 years has risen from 16% to 21% (see table 3.33), reflecting in part strengthened obligations on this age group to register as job seekers. There has been a corresponding decrease in the proportion of these job seekers who were aged 25-39 years (from 38% to 32%).

Of the working age registered job seekers over this period:

• between 24% and 27% have been aged under 25 years (see table 3.33)
• an increasing proportion have been receiving no benefit or pension (38% in 2008, compared with 22% in 2004), while the proportion receiving an unemployment-related benefit has decreased (from 57% to 43%) (see table 3.34)
• between 48% and 51% had no formal educational qualifications, while around 39% had school qualifications (see table 3.35)
• the proportion who identified as ethnic groups other than New Zealand Europeans increased slightly (from 63% to 67%), while the proportion identifying with that ethnic group decreased (see table 3.37).

Between 2007 and 2008, the proportion of these job seekers who were registered for under six months increased (from 32% to 41%), while the proportion registered for between six months and two years decreased (from 37% to 30%) (see table 3.36).

Table 3.33 Trends in the ages of registered job seekers

Age of client at the end of June	2004 Number	2005 Number	2006 Number	2007 Number	2008 Number
	Working age registered job seekers1
18-19 years	9,413	7,465	7,081	5,071	4,724
20-24 years	17,680	13,943	12,371	9,119	7,578
25-29 years	13,786	10,597	9,975	7,229	5,387
30-34 years	13,168	9,727	9,018	6,675	4,561
35-39 years	12,311	9,192	8,772	6,806	4,725
40-44 years	11,710	8,914	8,248	6,490	4,637
45-49 years	9,500	7,389	7,016	5,762	4,562
50-54 years	8,061	6,175	5,730	4,764	3,681
55-59 years	7,601	5,639	5,190	4,193	3,080
60-64 years	1,130	1,828	1,619	1,981	2,708
Total working age job seekers	104,360	80,869	75,020	58,090	45,643
	Other registered job seekers1
Total other job seekers	3,230	2,764	2,450	2,092	1,792
	Total registered job seekers1
Total	107,590	83,633	77,470	60,182	47,435

Note

1. Numbers of job seekers registered in SOLO at the end of June.

Table 3.34 Trends in the types of pension or main benefit received by working age job seekers

Type of pension or main benefit received at the end of June	Working age registered job seekers1
	2004 Number	2005 Number	2006 Number	2007 Number	2008 Number
Unemployment-related benefits2	59,399	44,737	36,147	22,444	19,546
Carer's benefits3	16,958	11,636	11,895	10,184	4,516
Sickness-related benefits4	2,796	2,773	3,095	3,143	2,400
Invalid's Benefit	1,691	1,620	1,778	1,949	1,242
Widow's Benefit	728	449	427	416	162
Emergency Benefit	278	215	224	245	129
New Zealand Superannuation	31	67	106	131	134
Veteran's Pension	2	3	6	10	11
No pension or main benefit5	22,477	19,369	21,342	19,568	17,503
Total	104,360	80,869	75,020	58,090	45,643

Notes

1. Numbers of working age job seekers registered in SOLO at the end of June.
2. Comprises Unemployment Benefits and Unemployment Benefits - Hardship paid to unemployed people and to trainees, and Independent Youth Benefits.
3. Comprises Domestic Purposes Benefits - Sole Parent, Domestic Purposes Benefits - Care of Sick or Infirm, Domestic Purposes Benefits - Women Alone and Emergency Maintenance Allowances.
4. Comprises Sickness Benefits and Sickness Benefits - Hardship.
5. Includes clients receiving an Unsupported Child's Benefit or an Orphan's Benefit.

Table 3.35 Trends in the level of the highest formal educational qualifications held by working age job seekers

Highest educational qualification recorded at the end of June	Working age registered job seekers1
	2004 Number	2005 Number	2006 Number	2007 Number	2008 Number
No formal educational qualifications	50,418	39,812	37,058	29,176	23,114
School qualifications	41,131	31,686	29,695	22,820	17,854
Post school qualifications	12,663	9,292	8,208	6,055	4,649
Unknown/unspecified qualifications	148	79	59	39	26
Total	104,360	80,869	75,020	58,090	45,643

Note

1. Numbers of working age job seekers registered in SOLO at the end of June.

Table 3.36 Trends in the length of current spells registered as a job seeker, for working age clients

Length of current spell to the end of June	Working age registered job seekers1
	2004 Number	2005 Number	2006 Number	2007 Number	2008 Number
Under 6 months	40,300	32,134	28,614	18,806	18,783
6 months-2 years	35,055	29,316	27,734	21,536	13,673
2-4 years	14,981	10,278	11,054	11,236	7,571
4 years or over	14,024	9,141	7,618	6,512	5,616
Total	104,360	80,869	75,020	58,090	45,643

Note

1. Numbers of working age job seekers registered in SOLO at the end of June.

Table 3.37 Trends in the ethnicity of working age job seekers

Ethnicity recorded at the end of June	Working age registered job seekers1
	2004 Number	2005 Number	2006 Number	2007 Number	2008 Number
Māori	37,152	29,198	27,468	20,622	16,312
Pacific peoples	10,848	9,426	9,104	7,518	5,580
Other ethnic groups	16,120	12,949	11,254	9,460	7,545
New Zealand Europeans	38,615	27,956	25,753	19,180	14,954
Not specified	1,625	1,340	1,441	1,310	1,252
Total	104,360	80,869	75,020	58,090	45,643

Note

1. Numbers of working age job seekers registered in SOLO at the end of June.

Trends in the proportion of working age people registered as job seekers

Decreases since 2004 in the proportion of all working age people in the New Zealand population who were registered as job seekers at the end of June each year (see figure 3.12) reflect reductions over the same period in the total number of registered job seekers. These decreases in turn reflect both operational changes in Work and Income and improved economic conditions.

Throughout this period, the likelihood of working age people being registered as job seekers has decreased with increasing age (see figure 3.12). This reflects both the increasing ease of obtaining and retaining paid work as people reach their prime working years, and the historic exemption of 60–64 year olds receiving main benefits from the requirement to register as a job seeker.

 

figure 3.12 Trends in the proportion of working age people registered as job seekers, by age

Note

1. Proportion shows:
   1. number of job seekers in age group registered in SOLO at the end of June, divided by
   2. Statistics New Zealand final estimate of the resident population in age group at the end of June.

See Table A3.10 for a summary of the SOLO data underlying Figure 3.12.

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Trends in new registrations of job seekers

Decreases since 2003/2004 in the number of job seeker registrations (see table 3.38) reflect both improved economic conditions and the impact of operational changes in the ways that Work and Income has assisted job seekers to retain paid work. Forty-one percent of the working age job seekers registered in 2007/2008 had been registered in the previous 12 months, compared with 51% in 2003/2004. Since 2004/2005, there has been a slight increase in the proportion of working age clients registering as job seekers who had done so for the first time (20% in 2007/2008, compared with 17% in 2004/2005).

Table 3.38 Trends in the length of periods since newly registered job seekers were last enrolled as a job seeker

Period since client was last enrolled as a job seeker	2003/2004 Number	2004/2005 Number	2005/2006 Number	2006/2007 Number	2007/2008 Number
	New registrations of working age job seekers1
Under 6 months	73,892	56,118	40,792	31,787	24,536
6-12 months	26,495	22,320	17,317	13,044	11,286
12-18 months	13,205	11,002	9,892	6,748	5,693
18 months-2 years	9,814	8,027	7,759	5,564	4,384
2-4 years	20,609	16,895	16,418	13,896	10,784
At least four years	15,296	14,022	14,636	13,657	12,708
Had never previously registered	36,534	26,554	24,322	20,089	17,098
Total registrations by working age job seekers	195,845	154,938	131,136	104,785	86,489
	New registrations of other job seekers1
Total registrations by other job seekers	10,791	7,829	6,466	5,497	4,450
	Total registrations of job seekers1
Total	206,636	162,767	137,602	110,282	90,939

Note

1. Numbers of new registrations by job seekers recorded in SOLO during years ended June.

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Trends in numbers of de-registrations of job seekers

The number of de-registrations of job seekers has decreased since 2003/2004 (see table 3.39), reflecting decreases in numbers of registered job seekers. Since 2006/2007, the proportion of de-registered working age job seekers who were leaving the labour market has increased from 35% to 42%, while the proportion entering paid work has decreased from 36% to 30%. Clients may leave the labour market for a number of reasons (eg entering full-time study or leaving New Zealand).

Table 3.39 Trends in the reasons for de-registrations of job seekers

Reason for de-registration	2003/2004 Number	2004/2005 Number	2005/2006 Number	2006/2007 Number	2007/2008 Number
	De-registrations of working age job seekers1
Entered paid work	93,509	69,209	54,772	44,464	30,379
Entered employment-related training	12,502	9,322	9,554	6,822	7,246
Left labour market	80,442	73,029	48,055	43,592	41,785
Lost contact	49,330	29,029	26,474	28,496	20,700
Other	85	0	0	0	0
Total de-registrations by working age job seekers	235,868	180,589	138,855	123,374	100,110
	De-registrations of other job seekers1
Total de-registrations by other job seekers	8,706	6,267	5,007	4,315	3,511
	Total de-registrations of job seekers1
Total	244,574	186,856	143,862	127,689	103,621

Note

1. Numbers of de-registrations of job seekers recorded in SOLO during years ended June.