The Youth Labour Market in New Zealand - A Comparison to the Pre-Recession Situation

Abstract

Historically, youth have difficulties in succeeding in the labour market. They can struggle with successfully making the transition from school to work and securing a decent job. The problem of competing and succeeding in the labour market for youth has worsened since the recession in 2008. This paper describes the labour market performance of youth prior to and after the recession. The suite of labour market indicators for youth – including the youth not in employment, education or training (NEET) indicator – derived from the cross-sectional Household Labour Force Survey is used to describe and analyse changes before and after 2008. The description is complemented by highlighting significant risk factors in the youth labour market. The overview of the New Zealand youth labour market together with the odds ratio analysis provides an understanding of the changing labour market situation for youth as well as an insight into which sections of youth particularly struggle in the labour market.