We can define the precariat as those in our community where the norm is "unstable labor, low and unpredictable incomes, and [potentially a] loss of citizenship rights. It is the new 'dangerous class,' partly because its insecurities induce the bitterness, ill-health, and anger that can be the fodder of right-wing populism" (Standing, 2018, p. 116). In New Zealand, one in seven Pākehā are in the precariat, lacking job security, having unstable incomes, and precarious living conditions. However, for Māori and Pasifika peoples, this figure rises to more than one in four (Groot et al., 2017). A quarter of our Māori and Pasifika populations are in a group which is more vulnerable than our old 'working class' proletariat.
Impacting most areas of our society for almost three years, Covid-19 reduced economic activity, causing reduction in working hours, widespread job losses, forcing early retirement, and business closures (Cumming, 2021). Almost 44% of New Zealand households experienced job or income loss (Fletcher et al., 2022). Prior to Covid-19, Māori and Pasifika groups had unemployment rates more than twice that of the rest of the workforce, so were highly vulnerable to COVID-19-associated unemployment (Hendrickson, 2020). Industries most heavily impacted by the pandemic - such as retail, tourism, and hospitality - were largely low-paid, lower skilled, and part-time roles... and where Māori & Pasifika groups held above average levels of employment (Fletcher et al., 2022).
Further contributing to Māori & Pasifika vulnerability include overcrowded housing and health disparities; historical and systemic inequities contributing to unequal access to education, healthcare, employment; and cultural and language barriers making access to accurate information about the pandemic difficult (Fletcher et al., 2022). These conditions are also perfect for spreading rheumatic fever (Oliver et al., 2017). By 2000 in Aotearoa, rheumatic fever had affected 1 in 4 Pasifika peoples (Barry, 2002). During the pandemic in 2020, New Zealanders returned home to wait out the pandemic (Ingenio, 2021), so it seems reasonable that this emigration put increased pressure on the housing market. Those who could not afford good quality housing became more crowded, and higher levels of infection becomes apparent.
Māori & Pasifika communities remain vulnerable. It is to be hoped that new national health initiatives - such as the Rheumatic Fever Co-Design Initiative - may slowly improve long-term health markers for more vulnerable groups (Te Whatu Ora, 2023). However, these will need to be supported through better quality housing and cheaper rents; and improved income parity. Addressing the gender pay gap would also assist, as Pākehā women have “median hourly earnings of $28.90" as opposed to "wāhine Māori [with] $26.00", Pasifika fafine/fifine $26.00 in 2022 (Manuatū Wāhine Ministry for Women, 2023).
This is a very complex problem; 20 decades in the making. But we can - and should - do better.
Sam, Alison, Lauren, and Anne
References:
Barry, A. (Director). (2002). In the Land of Plenty [documentary film]. Community Media Trust.
Cumming, J. (2022). Going hard and early: Aotearoa New Zealand's response to Covid-19. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 17(1), 107-119. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174413312100013X
Fletcher, M., Prickett, K. C., & Chapple, S. (2022). Immediate employment and income impacts of Covid-19 in New Zealand: evidence from a survey conducted during the Alert Level 4 lockdown. New Zealand Economic Papers, 56(1), 73-80. https://doi.org/10.1080/00779954.2020.1870537
Groot, S., Van Ommen, C., Masters-Awatere, B., & Tassell-Matamua, M. (Eds.). (2017). Precarity: Uncertain, insecure and unequal lives in Aotearoa New Zealand. Massey University Press.
Henrickson, M. (2020). Kiwis and COVID-19: The Aotearoa New Zealand Response to the Global Pandemic. The International Journal of Community and Social Development, 2(2), 121–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/2516602620932558
Ingenio. (2021, May 23). Covid-19 upside: the Kiwi brain gain. https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2021/05/23/New-zealanders-return-home-covid19.html
Manuatū Wāhine Ministry for Women. (2023). The gender pay gap. https://women.govt.nz/women-and-work/gender-pay-gap
Oliver, J. R., Pierse, N., Stefanogiannis, N., Jackson, C., & Baker, M. G. (2017). Acute rheumatic fever and exposure to poor housing conditions in New Zealand: A descriptive study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 53(4), 358-364. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.13421
Rua, M., Hodgetts, D., Groot, S., Blake, D., Karapu, R., & Neha, E. (2023). A Kaupapa Māori conceptualization and efforts to address the needs of the growing precariat in Aotearoa New Zealand: A situated focus on Māori. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62, 39-55. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12598
Standing, G. (2018). The precariat: Today’s transformative class?. Development, 61(1-4), 115-121. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-018-0182-5
Te Whatu Ora. (2023). Rheumatic Fever Co-Design Initiative. https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/publications/rheumatic-fever-co-design-initiative/
* Alison Frith kindly prepared most of the material for this post, with contributions from Lauren Chambers and Anne Roach
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