Employment Publications
How education is related to employment.
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A review of the New Zealand evidence on the benefits of tertiary education
What does existing evidence say about the benefits of tertiary education in New Zealand? This report reviews the body of New Zealand research on this question and aims to summarise what we know and don’t know so well. It aims…
Author(s): David Scott, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: August 2025
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Who stayed working and who retired? 2018-2023
This report looks at recent patterns of older people staying in work or retiring. It takes the population aged between 60 and 75 in 2018 and follows them to 2023 when they were aged 65 to 80. It aims to…
Author(s): Paul Satherley, Senior Research Analyst, Ministry of Education
Date Published: September 2024
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Exploring young people’s experience of limited employment
This report analyses the characteristics and experiences of young people in limited employment, and the pathways they follow in and out of limited employment between the ages 16 to 24. These are young people who are not in education, employment,…
Author(s): Mercy Mhuru, Ministry of Education
Date Published: September 2023
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How educational attainment and labour market outcomes compare between foreign-born and New Zealand-born New Zealanders
Over half of all adults in New Zealand with a tertiary diploma or higher-level qualification were born overseas. Targeted skilled migration policies have helped attract a high level of skills into the country. Yet, as in many OECD countries, qualified…
Author(s): Asaad Ali and David Scott, Tertiary System Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: July 2023
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15-year-olds in 2009, their educational achievement, where they went and what they earned over the next decade
This report follows the education and earnings of 15 year-olds in 2009, over a decade until they were 24 or 25. It is intended as a postscript to the report Education and earnings, A New Zealand update which provides a…
Author(s): David Scott, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: September 2020
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Qualification level match and mis-match in New Zealand
The Survey of Adult Skills showed that New Zealand had one of the highest rates of qualification level mismatch in the OECD. Qualification level mismatch means that a person’s qualification was higher or lower than the usual level currently required…
Author(s): Dee Earle, Chief Research Analyst, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: May 2020
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Not just about NEETs: A rapid review of evidence on what works for youth at risk of limited employment
The Ministry of Education commissioned this evidence review, with support from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, to determine how to improve interventions for young people who are likely to experience poorer than average employment over their lifetime.…
Author(s): Mandy McGirr, Independant Contractor and Dee Earle, Tertiary, Ministry of Education
Date Published: May 2019
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How are skills related to social and economic participation? Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)
New Zealand participated in the OECD's Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) in 2014. The survey is part of the OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).This A3 looks at how skill levels relate to social and economic…
Author(s): Paul Satherley, Tertiary, Ministry of Education
Date Published: December 2018
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PIAAC measures of qualification, field of study and skill mismatch
This technical note looks at the three measures of mismatch in the Survey of Adult Skills: qualification level, field of study and skills. It provides general comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each measure and how robust they are…
Author(s): Amapola Generosa, MBIE and Dee Earle and Paul Satherley, Tertiary, Ministry of Education
Date Published: December 2018
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Post-school labour-market outcomes of school-based NCEA
This report presents some basic statistics on what happens to school leavers in the first few years after school, and what difference school-based NCEA makes on post-school labour market outcomes.…
Author(s): David Scott, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: September 2018
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Destinations and employment outcomes of young, international graduates
This series of factsheets and associated data tables provide information on outcomes for young, international students who complete a qualification at a government-funded tertiary education provider in New Zealand. They look at how many of these graduates do further study,…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: December 2017
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Profile & Trends 2016: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions [Part 2 of 6]
This is edition 19 in an annual series on the tertiary education sector. Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions is the second of six reports to be published in the Profile and Trends 2016 series. The key findings of Tertiary…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: September 2017
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The post-study earnings and destinations of young, domestic graduates
This series of fact sheets and associated data tables provide information on the outcomes for young people who complete a qualification at a tertiary education provider in the New Zealand tertiary education system. They look at differences in earnings and…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: June 2017
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Moving places: Destinations and earnings of international graduates
International students play an important role in New Zealand through the contribution they make to New Zealand’s economy, the diversity they bring to New Zealand and its education system, and the lifetime links that are created between their country and…
Author(s): Zaneta Park, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: February 2017
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Profile & Trends 2015: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions [Part 2 of 6]
This is edition 18 in an annual series on the tertiary education sector. Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions is the second of six reports to be published in the Profile and Trends 2015 series. The key findings of Tertiary…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: August 2016
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School to work: What matters? Education and Employment of Young People Born in 1991
This study explores the education and employment experiences of young people born in 1991. The main purpose of the study is to explore the kinds of employment and labour market measures that can be derived from data in Statistics New…
Author(s): Dee Earle, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: June 2016
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Profile & Trends 2014: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions [Part 4 of 5]
This is edition 17 in an annual series on the tertiary education sector. Profile & Trends 2014: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions is the fourth of five new annual reports that, together, constitute the Ministry of Education's annual publication…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: December 2015
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What we get for what we spend: Inputs, outputs and outcomes of the Government's tertiary education expenditure 2004-2013
This report synthesises the inputs, outputs and outcomes of the Government's tertiary education expenditure over the period 2004 to 2013 in five key funds. In total, these funds distributed over $4 billion to providers and students in 2013…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: April 2015
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What young graduates do when they leave study
This report focuses on the destinations of young domestic graduates. It complements our recent publication 'What young graduates earn when they leave study' which looks at the earnings of young graduates who remain in New Zealand. In this report, we…
Author(s): Zaneta Park, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: June 2014
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The outcomes of tertiary education for Māori graduates
This report looks at the earnings and outcomes for young Māori and non-Māori who complete a qualification in the New Zealand tertiary education system. It replicates the methodology of Moving on up – what young people earn after their tertiary…
Author(s): Paul Mahoney, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: June 2014
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