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http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/ Research Commons at the University of Waikato Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. Insecure Here, Precarious There? Workfare-style Welfare Provision in the Age of Precarious Employment in Aotearoa New Zealand A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Sciences in Social Policy in the Division of Arts, Law, Psychology and Social Sciences at The University of Waikato by Dayna Erin East 2020 Abstract Aotearoa New Zealand’s adoption of workfare, beginning in the late 1980s, was designed to reduce welfare dependency and reinforce employment as the pathway to greater wellbeing. Concurrent with these policy developments in welfare provision were changes in the labour market, which led to an increase in employment arrangements that can be considered precarious. Feminist literature highlights that women are more negatively impacted by these kinds of changes to the welfare system and the labour market. In light of recent policy shifts, it is timely to draw attention to the ways in which the intersection between these two phenomena has led to increases in insecurity across different realms of life, and decreases to wellbeing overall. My research seeks to define and discuss precarious employment and workfare as significant and intersecting structural phenomena that shape lives in New Zealand, particularly of those in receipt of a benefit. This research takes a feminist approach to research in order to explore the connection between these two phenomena, and draws on both existing literature and statistical data to establish the impact of these phenomena, how many people move between workfare and precarious employment, and who these people are. Six interviews were also undertaken with insiders from New Zealand’s welfare system, including two wāhine welfare recipients, in order to see how women in receipt of welfare experience this connection. Based on this research, I argue that the prevalence of precarious employment undermines the policy imperative of employment as a pathway to increased wellbeing. I also challenge the notion of employment and the pursuit of it as an ideal source of wellbeing, as workfare and the punitive measures associated with it are a problem in and of itself. The everyday experiences of the interview participants highlight the loss of wellbeing that occurs from interactions with the workfare system and precarious employment. The interviews also illustrate the distinct problems that emerge from a lack of coordination between central and regional offices of the workfare system that i undermine the capacity of the system to challenge a reliance on unsustainable employment options and a less punitive approach to welfare provision. Ultimately, I argue that the intersecting sources of marginalisation that emerge from participation in the workfare system and precarious employment need to be better understood if the problems within the welfare system are to be addressed. This is particularly vital given the ways in which both structures perpetuate intersectional inequalities that compound in the lives of women in Aotearoa New Zealand. ii Acknowledgements My thanks first go to my mum and dad, Paula and Glenn, and my big sister, Talia. Mum and dad - I am who I am because of the love, time and effort you continue to invest in me, and not a day goes by when I don’t think of how lucky I am to have you as my parents. Talia - university only became a viable option for me after you did what all big sisters do and paved the way for the wee’un. Thank you for showing me that this was possible for me. My thanks also go to my supervisor, Dr Gemma Piercy-Cameron, whose faith in me to finish this thesis always far outweighed my faith in myself. You were absolutely right every time you told me what I was doing was hard, and I am incredibly grateful to have had someone as patient and kind as you on my side. Thank you - and sorry about the word-count! To all of my pals, but especially the gals – Lucy, Paige and Libby – who were never not gracious to me when I needed to vent, and who frequently entertained my threats to abandon my current life and go live in a field somewhere. You are three of the best things to come out of my time at Waikato, and your feminine energy (em)powered me through, every single time I wanted to give up. To my oldest friend, Scott – you totally disregard convention, and that’s more often than not a gift I really needed over the past two years. Thank you for being you. To Dr Bill Cochrane, Dr Johanna Schmidt, Dr Adele Norris and Dr David Neilson – being taught by you as an undergraduate was a privilege, but getting to work alongside you all is even better. Thank you for making academia somewhere I could see myself, and thank you for making it fun! Lastly, to the wāhine and key informants who were gracious enough to participate in this research – this project would have quite literally been impossible without you, and I can’t overstate how grateful I am that you spent your time and energy sharing your experiences and expertise with me. I hope I have done right by your contributions. iii Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………….. iii List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………….. ix List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………….... x Chapter One: Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 1 Research Approach ………………………………………………………………… 3 Research Objectives ………………………………………………………….…….. 5 Research Questions ………………………………………………………………… 5 Positionality: Me, My Research and You ………………………………………….. 6 Summary of Chapters ……………………………………………………………… 10 Chapter Two: Methodology ……………………………………………………………… 13 Feminist Research ………………………………………………………………….. 13 Feminist Theory ………………………………………………………….… 13 Intersectionality Theory ……………………………………………. 14 Feminist Research Approach ………………………………………………. 15 Methodology ……………………………………………………………………….. 16 Intersectional Lens in the Research Approach ……………………..…...….. 19 Kaupapa Māori Research …………………………………………….…..… 20 Research Design …………………………………………………….……….…..…. 22 Analysis of existing Literature ………………………………………..…… 23 Quantitative Dimension – Summaries of Secondary Data …………………. 24 A Statistical Portrait of the New Zealand Precariat – Cochrane et al. (2017) ………………………………………………….…………… 25 Linked Employer-employee Data ……………………….………… 26 iv Qualitative Dimension – Semi-Structured Interviews ……………….…… 26 Triangulation ……………………………………………………………… 29 ethical Considerations ……………………………………………………………. 30 Informed Consent ……………………………………………….………… 31 Minimisation of Harm ………………………………………….…………. 31 ensuring Participants’ Privacy ………………………………….………… 33 Deception ………………………………………………………….…...…. 34 A Note on Reflexivity: The Research Process ……………………….…..……..… 34 Chapter Three: What is Precarious Employment? ………………………….……..…. 36 Origins of Precarious Employment ………………………………..………....…… 36 Precarious Employment – Definitional Dilemmas …………………………….….. 42 Inconsistent Usage of ‘Precarious Employment’ ……………….…..…..…. 42 Binary versus Continuum Conceptualisation …………………….….…….. 43 Binary Conceptualisation ……………………………….….……… 43 Blurring of Distinguishing Characteristics …….….……...... 43 Tension in the ‘Standard’ versus ‘Non-Standard Dichotomy 44 Valorisation of ‘Standard’ Employment .…………….…….. 45 Continuum Conceptualisation……………………………….….…... 46 Precarity in Employment – Which Indicators? ………...…... 48 Conclusion – What is Precarious Employment, Really? ……………………..…….. 49 Chapter Four: What is Workfare? ……………………………………….…………….... 51 New Zealand’s Original Welfare System ………………………………….…..…… 51 What is Workfare? ………………………………………………………….……… 55 Summary …………………………………………………………………………… 61 Chapter Five: Critique of and Implications From Workfare …………………….……. 62 v Why Workfare? …………………………………………………………………..… 62 Impact of the Transition to Workfare in New Zealand ……………………….……. 69 Workfare – the Feminist Critique …………………………………………….……. 71 Women’s Work as Worthless Work? ……………………………..…..….... 72 A Level Playing Field in the (Gendered and Precarious) Labour Market? ... 74 Summary ………………………………………………………………………....… 76 Chapter Six: Workfare and Precarious Employment in Aotearoa New Zealand ……. 78 Implications of Precarious Employment …………………………………....……… 79 Different Implications for Different Workers? …………………………….. 82 A Statistical Portrait of the New Zealand Precariat – Cochrane et al. (2017) .…….. 89 Linked Employer-employee Data …………………………………………………. 93 Summary …………………………………………………………………………… 96 Chapter Seven: Interview Results ……………………………………………………..… 97 What does it Mean to be Precarious? …………..…………..….………..……...…... 97 A Note on Reflexivity: Writing Up the Research - What to Include? …..……...….. 99 Research Participants …………………..…………..…………..…………...…….. 100 Stevie and Gwen – Complying and Fighting with the Workfare System…. 100 Key Informant Participants …………..…………..…………..……...…….