Maximising workforce participation for older New Zealanders , Te whakapiki ohumahi kaumātua

Funded through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Endeavour Fund 2017-2022, this research programme will support innovative and sustainable strategies to:

• extend working lives
• enable workforce contribution by unemployed or under-employed older New Zealanders.

It was developed by the Health and Ageing Research Team through engagement with government and business stakeholders and the team’s Māori Advisory Group.

Read more about the Health and Ageing Research Team

Why this research matters

As the proportion of older people in Aotearoa New Zealand grows, a need for older people to remain in the workforce for longer is highlighted.

While most developed countries are struggling with the issue of supporting longer working lives, Aotearoa is poised to lead the world in realising the benefits of an ageing population.

But many people in Aotearoa aged 55 and over are unemployed or underemployed. Others wish to work beyond age 65.

Maximising workforce participation by older workers will provide a "triple dividend" for New Zealand with the potential to:

• benefit the economy by reducing social expenditure for early workforce exit while increasing revenue from taxes
• benefit business by moderating the impact of demographic change on the labour market
• help older workers through improved wealth and wellbeing.

Methodology

To provide a comprehensive solution to the research question we will use a complex research design which includes five specific research aims.

Methods include:

• surveying a longitudinal cohort
• business case studies
• kaupapa Māori research
• interviews to address four areas of key important for enabling older workers' workforce engagement.

Work and caregiving

Experiences of older persons who are juggling work and care responsibilities will be examined through longitudinal survey and interview methods to examine how these are influenced at the individual, organisational and policy levels.

Entrepreneurship

The experiences and barriers to entrepreneurship among older persons will be examined through interviewing networks of older entrepreneurs and a group of kaumātua entrepreneurs.

Experiences of older workers

Health, social, demographic and work-related experiences and beliefs or older persons who are employed, under-employed and unemployed will be surveyed to identify factors impacting workforce participation over time.

Business and employers

Case studies with business and employers will be conducted to employment of older workers and describe best practice for maintaining and enhancing their participation.

Outcomes and outputs

This research will contribute directly to policy development and employer practices to enable older people to:

• engage productively in the workforce
• contribute to the economy
• realise the benefits of an ageing population.

In partnership with stakeholders we will develop:

• evidence-based tools
• workshop materials
• management strategies.

These can be used by policy analysts, employers, older workers and the wider public.

Key outputs

The following outputs will be developed through the research programme.

• Longitudinal self reported surveys of over 5000 older Kiwis.
• Qualitative interviews with older entrepreneurs.
• Longitudinal qualitative interviews with caregivers.
• Business case studies.

Download and explore outputs from this study and others

Contributing stakeholders

We are grateful to the following stakeholders who have agreed to engage in our programme of research.

We update our stakeholders with project progress, findings and outputs in a biannual newsletter. Our stakeholders also support us with translating conclusions into evidence-based practice in our webinar series.

International Advisory Group

Dr Norah Keating: Professor of Rural Ageing, Swansea University.

Dr Judith Phillips: Deputy Principal (Research) at the University of Stirling and Professor of Gerontology.

Dr Sue Yeandle: Professor of Sociology and Director of CIRCLE (Centre for International Research on Care, Labour & Equalities) at the University of Sheffield.

Dr Philip Taylor: Professor of Human Resource Management at Federation University, Australia.

Dr Jeroen Spijker: “Ramón y Cajal” research fellow at the Center for Demographic Studies (CED), Barcelona.

Dr Kate O'Loughlin: Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, and member of the Ageing, Work and Health Research Unit.

Dr Sarah Vickerstaff: Professor, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent.

Dr Áine Ní Léime: Marie Sklodowska-Curie International Outgoing Fellow, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, NUI Galway, currently located at the Department of Sociology at Case Western Reserve University.

Dr Jacquelyn B. James: Research Professor and Co-director Center on Aging & Work, Boston College, and director of the Sloan Research Network on Aging & Work.

Dr Martin Hyde: Associate Professor in Gerontology, Centre for Innovative Ageing, Swansea University.

Dr Vanessa Burholt: Professor and Director of the Centre for Innovative Ageing, Swansea University, and Director of the pan-Wales Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research.

Dr Patrick Dulin: Professor,Department of Psychology, University of Alaska

Dr Martijn Huisman: Associate Professor and scientific director of the Longitudinal Ageing Study Amsterdam (LASA) with the VU University Medical Center, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Amsterdam, and research coordinator of the Amsterdam Center on Aging (ACA).