Raraunga Ohumahi - Te whakataurite oranga me te mahi Workforce Data - Balancing life and work

About half (52%) of the participants in Te Taunaki Public Service Census 2021 were satisfied with their work-life balance, which was lower than the 76% of employed New Zealanders who were satisfied in the most recent Stats NZ Survey of Working Life 2018.

Survey of working life: 2018 — Stats NZ

2018 Census — Stats NZ

People with management responsibilities tended to have less satisfaction with work-life balance (50% for people with direct reports, 46% for people who manage managers), compared to 53% for people with non-managerial roles.

Men were more likely to be satisfied with their work-life balance than women (56% vs 50%). This difference was even greater in senior management.

Work Life Balance(XLSX, 11 KB)

Flexible work usage and reasons

In Te Taunaki 2021, most participants (78%) used some form of flexible work arrangement, the most common being flexible start or finish times, including flexible breaks (79% of those that used some form of flexible work and 62% of all staff) and working from home (74% of those that used some form of flexible work and 58% of all staff).

The reasons for wanting or using flexible work were reduced commuting time (50%), allowing time for other activities (49%), and caring for children (36%). Some reported that flexible working allowed them to study, care for others, do voluntary work, or manage a health or disability issue.

Although most staff already had access to flexible working arrangements, 73% of them would have liked additional flexible arrangements.

FW reasons(XLSX, 12 KB)

FW usage(XLSX, 12 KB)

Caring responsibilities

Te Taunaki 2021 reported that fifty percent of females and 51% of males had caring responsibilities. 

Reported caring responsibilities increased with age, peaking for the 40–44-year age group at 75%, before declining for older age groups. 

Reported caring responsibilities also varied by ethnicity.  Pacific employees had the highest proportion reporting caring responsibilities (67%), followed by Māori (57%), Asian (52%), MELAA and European (both 47%) employees. 

Of those who reported caring responsibilities: 

• 47% cared for tamariki/children aged 5 to 13 

• 34% cared for tamariki/children aged over 14 

• 27% cared for tamariki/children aged 5 and under 

Other reasons were looking after older whānau/friends or looking after whānau/friends with a disability or long-term illness. 

Of those who reported caring responsibilities, 24% (22% of women) reported that it was easy or very easy to balance their responsibilities with their work, whereas 35% (37% of women) reported that it was difficult or very difficult to balance them.

Caring(XLSX, 12 KB)

Domestic Leave

Domestic leave is where a staff member is absent to care for somebody, typically a sick family member. Many Public Service departments and departmental agencies record and report on  domestic leave for their employees separately to sick leave.. In 2024, these agencies covered around 77% of permanent Public Service employees. 

Of those permanent employees that were covered, 1.8 days were taken in 2024, up from 1.5 days in 2023 and 1.3 days in 2019. Females had 1.8 days on average, while males had 1.6 days on average. 

Average domestic leave taken varies by age, peaking for the 35–39-year age group at 2.1 days on average. 

Average domestic leave also varied by ethnicity. Pacific employees had 3.2 days, followed by Māori (2.1 days), Asian (2.1 days), Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African (MELAA - 1.5 days), and European (1.5 days) employees. 

Leave taken for caring responsibilities varies significantly by gender. As at 30 June 2024, there were 902 employees on parental leave (1.4% of the Public Service workforce) including 876 females and 26 males. 

Parental Leave(XLSX, 11 KB)