How Pro-Poor Is the Selection of Seasonal Migrant Workers from Tonga under New Zealand's Recognized Seasonal Employer Program?
Temporary migration programs for unskilled workers are increasingly being proposed as a way to both relieve labor shortages in developed countries and aid development in sending countries without entailing many of the costs associated with permanen...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/08/9794375/pro-poor-selection-seasonal-migrant-workers-tonga-under-new-zealands-recognized-seasonal-employer-program http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6786 |
| Summary: | Temporary migration programs for
unskilled workers are increasingly being proposed as a way
to both relieve labor shortages in developed countries and
aid development in sending countries without entailing many
of the costs associated with permanent migration. New
Zealand's new Recognized Seasonal Employer program is
designed to enable unskilled workers from the Pacific
Islands to work in horticulture and viticulture in New
Zealand for a period of up to seven months. However, the
development impact on a sending country will depend not only
on how many workers participate, but also on who
participates. This paper uses new survey data from Tonga to
examine the process of selecting workers for the Recognized
Seasonal Employer program, and to analyze how pro-poor the
recruitment process has been to date. The findings show that
recruited workers come from largely agricultural
backgrounds, and have lower average incomes and schooling
levels than Tongans not participating in the program.
Comparing the characteristics of program workers with those
of Tongans applying to permanently migrate to New Zealand
through the Pacific Access Category, the program workers are
more rural and less educated. The program therefore seems to
have succeeded in creating new opportunities for relatively
poor and unskilled Tongans to work in New Zealand. |
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