Recent trends in the employment rate of sole mothers in New Zealand

Kay Goodger

Using Household Labour Force data for mothers living with dependent children, this brief monitoring report updates trends in sole mothers’ employment rates to March 2001. The paper provides further evidence of some of the developments that were anticipated by recent reforms, such as a rise in full-time employment, particularly among sole mothers with older children.

The paper shows that Household Labour Force data can be used to monitor levels of employment among sole mothers on a more regular basis than the five-yearly Population Census, providing a valuable tool in evaluating the effectiveness of policy change in this area.