2007 Conference Papers

"Multiple job holding: Interpreting Labour Market Change and Economic Diversification in Rural Communities"
- Nicola Robertson, Harvey C Perkins & Nick Taylor

A paper presented at the Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, 1-6 July 2007.

This paper contributes to the now significant literature on neo-liberalism and rural change, and focuses on multiple job holding and rural economic and social life. In New Zealand, multiple job holding has increased significantly over the whole workforce and more particularly in rural areas over the last 25 years. Our meta-theme is that multiple job holding is a very useful vehicle for interpreting changing rural social and economic relations associated with work and employment. The paper reports research which investigates the ways individuals, families and communities in New Zealand adapt to social and economic change through multiple job holding. Ninety-six in-depth interviews were conducted in the Ashburton District, located in the South Island province of Canterbury. The work focused particularly on the natural resource communities of Ashburton and Methven and their rural hinterlands, in which people are often directly employed or self employed in primary production and/or work in the service industries (e.g. in agriculture, tourism, health, education, and accounting). Census data show variations in multiple job holding in the district with lower levels in the provincial town of Ashburton compared to higher rates in the rural hinterland. Census data also show how work in various occupations changed in the ten years 1991-2001. This census data plus case studies and narratives from these communities illustrate how multiple job holding reflects and creates new social and economic arrangements and place meanings.


"Impact assessment as part of integrated planning and management of tourism in and around natural areas"
- Nick Taylor, Janet Gough, Julie Warren, Paul Blaschke & Marc Baily

Poster paper for the IAIA Conference, 2007 in Seoul, Korea.

Tourism in New Zealand relies heavily on nature-based resources, with consequent impacts on natural areas and host communities. A research programme is developing an integrated approach for planning and management of tourism in and around natural areas, which includes considering social, cultural, environmental and economic impacts. The research programme is contributing to the national strategic research objective of a dynamic tourism industry which is environmentally, socially, culturally and economically sustainable. Key issues addressed in the research include the competing requirements of tourism and outdoor recreation activities, recognition of a finite capacity for some activities at some sites, and the need to assess impacts and monitor progress towards sustainability. An iterative, multi-method research approach fed findings from interviews, literature reviews, case studies and workshops into formulation of an integrated model that guided development of a web-based tool box. The research process identified a critical need to integrate the use of tools across different dimensions of sustainable management. Impact assessment was regarded as one of six key sets of tools that should be better integrated. Individually, tools are narrowly focused and miss the benefits of integration to address complex issues of environmental management. The website is designed to facilitate access to the full range of tools and to assist capacity building in support of their use.


"Stakeholders and Evaluative Integration: Opportunities and Incentives to Integrate Knowledge - Some Converging Threads"
- James Baines & Jim Sinner

Paper presented to IAIA07 Seoul, Korea by James Baines, Taylor Baines & Associates.

In some jurisdictions, the nature of resource management and policy decision making is changing from traditional government-oriented modes towards a model of network governance in which non-government stakeholder groups play a more prominent role. Sustainability assessment requires the integration of different forms of knowledge for the purposes of informing policy or project decision makers, and stakeholders are important contributors to this integration. This paper draws together some converging threads and discusses implications for the practice of impact assessment.


"Labour market changes, livelihoods and social capital: Some issues for social policy"
- Nick Taylor, Gerard Fitzgerald, Nicola Robertson & Wayne McClintock

Paper prepared for the Social Policy Research and Evaluation (SPRE) Conference, Wellington, 3-5 April.

Research into multiple job holding in New Zealand has identified that in addition to holding two or more jobs, and the relatively long hours they work, these workers continue to make a considerable contribution to social capital. The research investigates the contribution of multiple job holders to families and voluntary work in community organizations through 360 in-depth interviews over six sectors. The findings show there are differences in community contribution between different occupational groups, sexes and age groups for the sectors surveyed.  The research also reveals the importance of voluntary work across settlement types using 2001 census data.  Some occupations place particular demands on individuals.  White collar workers, especially accountants, are in demand for honorary positions reflecting an expectation that they give back to the community their professional skills, whereas there is lesser expectation on doctors, who already work in the social services.  Farmers and small accommodation owner-operators fit their community contributions alongside the 24/7 nature of their businesses and farms and other work.  However, respondents often commented that multiple job holding hinders their ability to contribute to their families and communities, rasing the possibility of a social capital paradox.  Knowledge about people who are central to social capital, and potential constraints to their involvement, in particular for rural areas, has implications for social cohesion and policy formulation in relation to community based development and service delivery, and to participation in local area and major project planning.


"The work-life balance and multiple job holding: Implications for social and economic policy"
- Wayne McClintock, Nick Taylor & Jamie Newell

Paper prepared for the Social Policy Research and Evaluation (SPRE) Conference, Wellington, 3-5 April.

Multiple job holding is a significant feature of the contemporary New Zealand labour market, with at least one in ten people actively involved in the workforce holding more than one job at a time. Research examined how multiple job holding affects the lives of workers in six sectors of the economy and reveals that there can be considerable impact on their work-life balance.  Based on 360 in-depth interviews with women and men employed in the agricultural, health, café and restaurant, accounting, accommodation and creative sectors, the research shows that multiple job holding is comparatively well established in five of these sectors, with multiple job holders often expecting to remain as such for the medium to long term. For café and restaurant workers, however, multiple job holding is a more transitional phase of their career pathway as many of them only intend to continue this employment strategy over the short term. Multiple job holders, who on average worked 9.5 more hours than non multiple job holders in 1981 and 7 more hours in 2001, are motivated by a range of factors with economic ones dominating. However, personal factors and managing a portfolio of work are also important. Overall, workers interviewed in the six sectors tend to hold their jobs because they want to rather than because they have to. Nevertheless, multiple job holding affects lives outside work, particularly family activities, participation in leisure and exercise, and community involvement. These effects on the work-life balance of multiple job holders vary by sector, and need to be considered by policy makers as they develop programmes which will both improve the welfare of individuals and their families/whanau and encourage sustainable employment.