Work and Care
Balancing work and caring responsibilities is a major concern for families today, and women especially find it difficult to combine these two roles. NACEW is concerned with how women can best manage these responsibilities and sees this as a key priority now and in the future.
Providing Financial Support to Family Carers
In May 2007, the Minister of Labour asked the Council for a “think piece” on providing financial support to unpaid family carers. The paper looks at various policy approaches, and discusses the role of the state vs. the role of the family in financially supporting those that have family caring responsibilities beyond the norm. The paper is timely given the development of the New Zealand Carers’ Strategy and Five-year Action Plan released in April 2008 which the Council supports. Read the Providing Financial Support to Family Carers paper here.
Parental Leave
The Minister of Labour asked NACEW for its view on priorities for possible improvements to the parental leave scheme. This follows the government’s evaluation of the scheme in 2005/06. In May 2007, NACEW asked organisations and individuals for their feedback on our recommendations. We used their views to strengthen our report to the Minister in July 2007. More information on the parental leave scheme and NACEW's recommendations is available here.
Decisions about Caring and Working
October 2006 (PDF 370KB)Prepared for NACEW and the Department of Labour by K Gendall and L Fawthorpe.
The Department of Labour and NACEW commissioned research to identify the factors that influence people’s decisions surrounding paid work, and to provide a better picture of the decision making process. This study found that multiple factors influence people’s choices about paid work, and that different approaches suit different people in different situations. Read the report [On Department of Labour website].
Work-Life Balance: What's that?
February 2004 Download 2,045KB PDFThis brochure looks at how four different women manage their work-life balance. For copies of the brochure contact NACEW.
New Zealand Childcare Survey 2009
Revised 17 December 2010 available on the Statistics New Zealand website
The New Zealand Childcare Survey 2009 (CCS) provides information about the use of formal and informal childcare arrangements and the relationship between childcare, work, and study arrangements.
Childcare, Families and Work. The New Zealand Childcare Survey 1998: A Survey of Early Childhood Education and Care Arrangements for Children
July 1999 Download 1,041kb PDFThe Childcare Survey is New Zealand’s first comprehensive national survey on early childhood education (ECE) and care. It was designed to gather information from parents on the use of ECE and care arrangements for children under 14 years of age, and on the relationship between labour force participation and the use of ECE and care. A total of 3,809 families participated in the Childcare Survey. The Survey was conducted by Statistics New Zealand as a supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey from July to September 1998.
Key Findings: Childcare, Families and Work - The New Zealand Childcare Survey 1988
July 1999 Download 99kb PDFThe Key Findings found that the use of ECE and care, and the types of ECE and care used, vary by parental labour force status, family income, the number of parents in the household, and ethnicity.
To view the Childcare, Families and Work: Seminar Proceedings go to our Archives section.
