{"id":4117,"date":"2023-04-27T05:15:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T17:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=4117"},"modified":"2023-04-27T05:15:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T17:15:11","slug":"low-paying-jobs-more-of-a-dead-end-than-a-stepping-stone-particularly-if-youre-older","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=4117","title":{"rendered":"Low-paying jobs more of a dead-end than a stepping stone – particularly if you’re older"},"content":{"rendered":"

Analysis –\u00a0<\/i>The most recent\u00a0rise in Aotearoa New Zealand’s minimum wage<\/a>\u00a0has again put the spotlight on low-wage jobs and the established belief that\u00a0low wages are a starting point for workers<\/a>\u00a0who are quickly able to transition into higher-paid employment. But\u00a0our research found<\/a>\u00a0the situation is not so straightforward. For older New Zealanders, possible options for finding their way out of low-wage work are quite limited.<\/p>\n

In our research, we explored whether low-wage workers can easily transition to better-paying opportunities. We wanted to examine whether low-pay creates a lock-in effect, or whether workers in New Zealand have sufficient scope to climb up the salary ladder.<\/p>\n

For a number of reasons, it is increasingly important to understand the labour market dynamics faced by low-wage workers. A worker’s earning level corresponds to the degree of pain caused by the current cost-of-living crisis. Low-wage earners are\u00a0feeling the pinch<\/a>\u00a0more than those with higher incomes.<\/p>\n

Moreover, being on low-pay for a persistent period can negatively affect people’s financial resilience and their ability to\u00a0manage rainy day funds<\/a>\u00a0for unexpected expenses.<\/p>\n

New Zealand’s low-wage sector<\/h3>\n

In 2020, the OECD estimated about one in 10 New Zealand workers (8 percent) could be classed as\u00a0low-waged<\/a>. This figure is substantially below the levels observed in other countries such as the United Kingdom (18 percent) and the United States (24 percent).<\/p>\n

Previous studies have evaluated an average worker’s prospects of transitioning from\u00a0a low-paying job to higher-paid employment<\/a>. Some studies found a certain degree of “permeability” in the labour market – being on low-pay is more of a temporary phenomenon as, over time, workers can climb up the pay ranks.<\/p>\n

However, there are some empirical challenges when testing the earning prospects of the low-wage workers.<\/p>\n

First, the socio-economic backgrounds of workers are incredibly varied. Young workers, for example, are much more likely to start with low-salaried work but are better qualified when compared with older workers on low pay.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, our analysis found the chances of transitioning from low-pay to higher pay depends on individual characteristics like age and qualification. And outcomes are also not set in stone, given on-the-job training and switching employers could improve earning prospects.<\/p>\n

SOURCE RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Analysis –\u00a0The most recent\u00a0rise in Aotearoa New Zealand’s minimum wage\u00a0has again put the spotlight on low-wage jobs and the established belief that\u00a0low wages are a starting point for workers\u00a0who are quickly able to transition into higher-paid employment. But\u00a0our research found\u00a0the situation is not so straightforward. For older New Zealanders, possible options for finding their way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-nz-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4119,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4117\/revisions\/4119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}