Hourly earnings from wages and salaries
Note: The data and text for this section is sourced in whole or in part from the following report: Ministry of Social Development (2008), Children and Young People: Indicators of Wellbeing in New Zealand 2008. Wellington: Ministry of Social Development.
Definition
Median gross (before tax) hourly earnings from all wages and salaries for employees aged 15 to 24 and earning income from wage and salary jobs, as measured by the New Zealand Income Survey, and (for trend data) adjusted for inflation using the Consumers Price Index.
Relevance
Earning a wage or salary from employment is an important step towards financial independence for young people.
Current level and trends
In June 2008, the median wage of young people aged 15 to 19 employed in wage and salary jobs was $12.00 an hour.
That is to say, half of all young people in this age group earned more than this amount, and half earned less. The median wage of young people aged 20 to 24 employed in wage and salary jobs was $15.34 an hour.
Between 1997 and 2007, inflation-adjusted median hourly earnings increased by 89 cents per hour (seven percent) for young people aged 20 to 24. Over the same period, real median hourly earnings increased by $2.09 or 23 percent for young people aged 15 to 19.(1)
Real median hourly earnings for those earning income from wage and salary jobs, young people aged 15 to 19 and 20 to 24, June 1997 to June 2007
Source: Statistics New Zealand, New Zealand Income Survey.
Notes: Inflation-adjusted data reported in June 2007 dollars.
Notes
1. The minimum wages affecting youth workers in New Zealand underwent significant reform in 2001 and again in 2008. Prior to the 2001 reform, a youth minimum wage, set at 60% of the adult minimum, applied to 16 to 19 year-olds. The 2001 reform had two components. First, it lowered the eligible age for the adult minimum wage from 20 to 18 years. Second, the reform raised the youth minimum wage in two annual steps from 60% to 80% of the adult minimum. At 1 April 2007, the minimum wage for workers 18+ was $11.25 an hour, and the minimum wage for 16 to 17 year olds and people over 16 in training was 80% of this ($9.00). From 1 April 2008, the youth minimum wage was abolished, and all workers aged 16+ are now entitled to a minimum wage of $12.00 an hour. There is no minimum wage for workers under 16 years of age, though the “training wage” of $9.60 an hour remains for those aged 16+ who are training on the job and meet specific conditions.
