IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/aut/wpaper/201207.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Well-being of Women in New Zealand: The Changing Landscape

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica Dye

    (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology)

  • Stephanie Rossouw

    (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology)

  • Gail Pacheco

    (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology)

Abstract

As the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893, New Zealand (NZ) has often been viewed as a leader in the global movement towards gender equality. This paper aims to assess trends in overall well-being for NZ women, by pulling together a range of statistical indicators across five key facets of well-being: demographic and family changes, education, employment, health, and crime and violence. From our analysis two contrasting pictures emerge. The first is that NZ women are clearly making up ground in respect of their education, participation in the labour force (less so in terms of wage equality), and overall health outcomes (barring mental health issues, such as depression). In the second, however, NZ women are trailing behind their other developed nation counterparts when one considers crime and violence, both committed against and by them.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Dye & Stephanie Rossouw & Gail Pacheco, 2012. "Well-being of Women in New Zealand: The Changing Landscape," Working Papers 2012-07, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:aut:wpaper:201207
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aut.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/122040/Economics-WP-2012-07.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dean R. Hyslop & David C. Maré, 2003. "Understanding New Zealand's Changing Income Distribution 1983-98: A Semiparametric Analysis," Working Papers 03_16, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    2. Robert H. Haveman & Barbara L. Wolfe, 2002. "Social and nonmarket benefits from education in an advanced economy," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 47(Jun), pages 97-142.
    3. Kerry Papps, 2010. "Earnings inequality and gender in New Zealand, 1998-2008," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 217-229.
    4. Dean R. Hyslop & David C. Maré, 2005. "Understanding New Zealand's Changing Income Distribution, 1983–1998: A Semi‐parametric Analysis," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 72(287), pages 469-495, August.
    5. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, July.
    6. Scott Fargher & Stefan Kesting & Thomas Lange & Gail Pacheco, 2008. "Cultural heritage and job satisfaction in Eastern and Western Europe," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(7), pages 630-650, November.
    7. Gail Pacheco, 2011. "Estimating Employment Impacts with Binding Minimum Wage Constraints," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 87(279), pages 587-602, December.
    8. Bramley, D. & Hebert, P. & Tuzzio, L. & Chassin, M., 2005. "Disparities in indigenous health: A cross-country comparison between New Zealand and the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(5), pages 844-850.
    9. Pacheco, Gail A. & Cruickshank, Amy A., 2007. "Minimum wage effects on educational enrollments in New Zealand," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 574-587, October.
    10. David Fergusson & Sheree J. Gibb, 2009. "Sources of the Gender Wage Gap in a New Zealand Birth Cohort," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 12(3), pages 281-298.
    11. M. Anne Hill & Elizabeth King, 1995. "Women's education and economic well-being," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(2), pages 21-46.
    12. Yolanda Kodrzycki, 2002. "Educational attainment as a constraint on economic growth and social progress," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 47(Jun), pages 37-95.
    13. Jerik Hanushek & Dennis Kimko, 2006. "Schooling, Labor-force Quality, and the Growth of Nations," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 1, pages 154-193.
    14. Robert H. Haveman & Barbara L. Wolfe, 1984. "Schooling and Economic Well-Being: The Role of Nonmarket Effects," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 19(3), pages 377-407.
    15. John Gibson, 2000. "Sheepskin effects and the returns to education in New Zealand: Do they differ by ethnic groups?," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 201-220.
    16. Manisha Desai, 2010. "Hope in Hard Times: Women’s Empowerment and Human Development," Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2010-14, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    17. Sholeh A Maani, 2002. "Education and Maori Relative Income Levels over Time: The Mediating Effect of Occupation, Industry, Hours of Work and Locality," Treasury Working Paper Series 02/17, New Zealand Treasury.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Johnston & Wang-Sheng Lee, 2011. "Explaining the Female Black-White Obesity Gap: A Decomposition Analysis of Proximal Causes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(4), pages 1429-1450, November.
    2. Arthur Grimes, 2004. "New Zealand: A Typical Australasian Ecomony?," Working Papers 04_11, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    3. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2016. "Exchange Values of Gold, Land, Physical Capital, and Human Capital in a Neoclassical Growth Model," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 3, pages 265-286, September.
    4. Ferreira , Francisco H. G., 2010. "Distributions in motion: economic growth, inequality, and poverty dynamics," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5424, The World Bank.
    5. Juan D. Barón & Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark, 2010. "Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap in Private‐ and Public‐Sector Employment: A Distributional Analysis," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(273), pages 227-246, June.
    6. Les OXxley & Ttrinh Le & John Gibson, 2008. "Measuring Human Capital: Alternative Methods and International Evidence," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 24, pages 283-344.
    7. McMahon, Walter W., 2018. "The total return to higher education: Is there underinvestment for economic growth and development?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 90-111.
    8. David Black & Yi-Ping Tseng & Roger Wilkins, 2009. "Examining the Role of Demographic Change in the Decline in Male Employment in Australia: A Propensity Score Re-weighting Decomposition Approach," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2009n24, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    9. Wei Bin ZHANG, 2016. "Oscillations In The Walrasian General Equilibrium Theory With Endogenous Wealth And Human Capital Accumulation," EcoForum, "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava, Romania, Faculty of Economics and Public Administration - Economy, Business Administration and Tourism Department., vol. 5(1), pages 1-41, January.
    10. Adebayo B. Aromolaran, 2002. "Private Wage Returns to Schooling in Nigeria: 1996-1999," Working Papers 849, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    11. Orazem, Peter & Glewwe, Paul & Patrinos, Harry, 2007. "The Benefits and Costs of Alternative Strategies to Improve Educational Outcomes," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12853, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    12. Tharmmapornphilas, Rubkwan, 2013. "Impact of household factors on youth's school decisions in Thailand," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 258-272.
    13. Schwalje, Wes, 2011. "A Conceptual Model of National Skills Formation for Knowledge-based Economic Development," MPRA Paper 30302, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Lela Rospida & Kamaludin Kamaludin & Mochamad Ridwan, 2021. "Economic Analysis Child Labor Based Households in Bengkulu City," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 11(1), pages 140-146.
    15. Walter W Mcmahon, 2007. "An Analysis Of Education Externalities With Applications To Development In The Deep South," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(3), pages 459-482, July.
    16. Lynn A. Karoly, 2010. "The Role of Education in Preparing Graduates for the Labor Market in the GCC Countries," Working Papers WR-742, RAND Corporation.
    17. Trofimov, Ivan D. & Baawi, Nurulhana A., 2020. "Human Capital: State of the Field and Ways to Extend the Concept," MPRA Paper 107039, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Schwalje, Wes, 2011. "Knowledge-based Economic Development as a Unifying Vision in a Post-awakening Arab World," MPRA Paper 30305, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Dao, N.T. & Davila, J., 2015. "Gender inequality, technological progress, and the demographic transition," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2015038, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    20. Pedro Teixeira, 2014. "Gary Becker’s early work on human capital – collaborations and distinctiveness," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-20, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender equality; women's well-being;

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aut:wpaper:201207. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Gail Pacheco (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fbautnz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.