Houshold-Based Labour Force Transitions: A New Database and Some Methodological Challenges

This paper explores some methodological issues related to studying household labour force transitions and introduces a new dataset based on the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS). To illustrate the complexity of the topic, we examine the following research question: How long do "work-poor" households remain "work-poor"? We endeavour to answer this question using the Household Transitions database, created for us by Statistics New Zealand. The database compiles eight quarters of data for several cohorts of HLFS households. Our analyses raise several methodological questions. While solving these problems is important if HLFS data are to be used in studying household based labour force transition s. these issues will also have to be confronted when analysing data from the Survey of Family, Income and Employment