Workforce and Employment Estimates: New Zealand 1921-1939

Abstract

New Zealand does not have a consistent set of employment and unemployment data for the interwar years. The best source is the Population Census which was held three times, but not during the Great Depression. There is also a consistent set of official factory statistics which commences in 1921, and can be separated into males and females, adults and minors. This paper uses an estimate for the 1933 workforce that is equivalent to the census data points of 1921, 1926 and 1936. It also uses officially sourced employment estimates for 1939. From these data points ,from the factory data, and from Post Office Savings Bank balances, a set of equations are constructed from which annual employment data are drawn. Workforce estimates for periods of high unemployment are interpolated in accordance with the subsequent recoveries. The 1920s was a period of insecurity and low female participation. The 1930s saw a transformation from mass unemployment to full employment in just six years, despite a rise in labour force participation.