Financial status

Many mature non-participants may not need to work for financial reasons:

• Eighty percent of those interviewed were currently receiving income from National Superannuation, benefits or some other government allowance.
• Forty-five percent lived with someone who was receiving income from National Superannuation, benefits or some other government allowance.
• Sixty percent had other sources of household income, such as from a partner's paid employment or investment income.

Past work experience

Almost all mature non-participants (99 percent) interviewed for the Stage 2 survey had worked in paid employment for three months or more at some time in the past. They had worked in a wide range of occupations and industries.

Fourteen percent had been out of the workforce for less than one year, 13 percent for one to two years, while 71 percent had not worked in paid employment for three years or more, and 38 percent had not worked in more than 10 years. This is clearly a function of age, as 42 percent of those who had not worked in the last 10 years were aged 65 years or more.

Reasons for leaving the workforce

The reasons for mature non-participants leaving the workforce varied:

• Many left voluntarily - to retire (30 percent), to do something different (6 percent), because they did not want to work anymore (5 percent) and/or did not need the income (2 percent), or to return to school or university (1 percent).
• Some left involuntarily, through dismissal or redundancy (10 percent).
• Others left because of personal disabilities or for health reasons (19 percent), or as a result of an injury (4 percent).
• Some left for personal or family related reasons, such as carer responsibilities (8 percent), because they had children (5 percent), or because they had married (4 percent).

Mature non-participants' interest in returning to paid employment

A reasonable proportion of mature non-participants (19 percent) were interested in entering/re-entering paid employment at the time of the survey. They were actively:

• checking job advertisements (63 percent)
• looking for work through friends, family and other contacts (41 percent)
• applying for jobs (39 percent), or sending out CVs (27 percent)
• contacting or registering with Work and Income (23 percent), or contacting recruitment agencies (16 percent).

They tended to be younger (aged 45 to 54 years old), male, and to have left paid employment in the last year (30 percent, compared with 14 percent of all mature non-participants). They were likely to have been dismissed or made redundant from their last job (21 percent, compared with 10 percent of all mature non-participants).

Reasons non-participants were not looking for paid employment

Respondents who were not looking for paid employment were classified into three, non-mutually exclusive groups:

• Those who were not seeking work for personal health reasons.
• Those who considered themselves permanently retired or financially secure and/or who did not want to work.
• Those with carer responsibilities that made it difficult for them to work.

The group not looking for paid employment was more likely to be female (68 percent), to have been out of the workforce for more than six years (50 percent, compared with 30 percent of those currently trying to re-enter the workforce), to have left the workforce voluntarily for personal health reasons or because of carer responsibilities, and to have low or no educational qualifications.

Job skill and workplace related barriers to taking up paid employment

Most of those interviewed said that they faced job skill or workplace barriers that made it difficult for them to take up paid employment. Only 11 percent said that they did not have any such issues.

Those who were looking to enter/re-enter the workforce and those who were not mentioned these barriers to the same extent. The most frequently reported barriers were:

• having the types of skills that employers want (54 percent of those looking to enter/re-enter, compared with 55 percent of those not trying to do so)
• employers believing that older workers will not pick up skills for the job quickly enough (52 percent, compared with 47 percent).
• being under qualified for available jobs (48 percent, compared with 50 percent)
• believing the costs associated with training or studying for new skills are too high (46 percent, compared with 44 percent)
• lacking work experience (32 percent, compared with 29 percent)
• not having access to training to gain new skills (27 percent, compared with 37 percent).

Mature non-participants with higher educational qualifications were significantly more likely to be attempting to re-enter the workforce - 56 percent had qualifications beyond secondary school, compared with 34 percent of those not currently looking for work. Those who had no school qualifications were more likely to report that job skill and workplace barriers would make it difficult for them to take up paid employment.

Personal and life situation related barriers to taking up paid employment

In the Stage 2 survey, 89 percent of mature non-participants said that they faced personal or life situation barriers that would make it difficult for them to take up paid employment. Only 11 percent of those surveyed said that they did not have any such issues.

People who were looking to enter/re-enter the workforce were less likely to identify these barriers than those who were not. This is in contrast to the fact that both groups identified job skill or workplace barriers to the same extent (see above).

The personal or life situation barriers most frequently reported were:

• having a personal health issue or a disability (64 percent of those not actively looking to enter/re-enter the workforce, compared with 41 percent of those who were looking for work)
• having less leisure time for oneself (37 percent, compared with 25 percent)
• having less time with family, friends and whänau (37 percent, compared with 25 percent)
• carer responsibilities for a partner/parent or disabled person (29 percent, compared with 18 percent)
• carer responsibilities for children (26 percent, compared with 19 percent).

One in five (20 percent) of those not looking to enter/re-enter the workforce said that having less time to do volunteer work or work in the community was a barrier for them. Those looking for work did not mention this. On the other hand, 44 percent of those seeking work did say that the cost of returning to education was a barrier. Those not looking to enter/re-enter the workforce did not mention the cost of education.

Overall, the Stage 2 survey found that more women than men reported personal or life situation barriers. Maori and Pacific peoples (who were much more likely to have carer responsibilities) were more likely to do so than NZ European/Others.

Levels of awareness of where to go for career information, advice and guidance

The Stage 2 survey found that 23 percent of mature non-participants did not know where to go for CIAG, should they want to return to the workforce.

Eighteen percent said they would go to the classified advertisement section of the newspaper, but this section typically contains little CIAG information.

Subgroups of interest - the focus of the Stage 3 qualitative research

Respondents for the qualitative research were recruited primarily on the basis that they were either actively looking (i.e. motivated) or not looking (i.e. non-motivated) to take up paid employment at the time. Mature non-participants who claimed they were absolutely not interested in working in paid employment or were retired were excluded.

The Stage 2 survey found that several subgroups were more likely to identify barriers to participating in paid employment. They were:

• people with non-injury related disabilities or health issues
• people with carer responsibilities
• maori and Pacific peoples
• people from rural areas
• women.

This helped determine who was recruited to represent the non-motivated group of mature non-participants for the qualitative study.