Workers in New Zealand who feel their employment is insecure are more likely than other workers to rate their overall life satisfaction poorly, survey data from Statistics New Zealand showed.

Survey data from the March 2021 quarter showed that 26% of employed people who thought there was a high or almost certain chance of losing their job or business in the next 12 months, rated their life satisfaction poorly, at 0–6 on a scale from 0 to 10. This compares with 9.3% of those who felt there was almost no chance of losing their job or business.

“Overall life satisfaction tended to increase along with job security,” wellbeing and housing statistics manager Claire Bretherton said. “One in 5 people with the highest level of job security rated their life satisfaction at the maximum of 10. They were almost twice as likely to do so as those who were the least secure in their employment.”

In the March 2021 quarter, 43% of employed people felt there was almost no chance of losing their job or business in the next 12 months, and a further 38% felt there was only a low chance. Meanwhile, 13% felt there was a medium chance and 4.2% that the chances were high or almost certain.

Between the June 2020 and March 2021 quarters, those who felt there was at least a medium chance of losing their job or business in the next 12 months fell from 23% to 17%. On the other hand, those who felt there was a low or almost no chance increased from 73% to 81%.

“With job losses having been less severe than feared at the start of the pandemic, people’s feelings of job security have improved over the past year,” Bretherton said. “However, those who do feel insecure in their employment continue to fare worse than others across a range of wellbeing measures. This is particularly clear when we compare the group who feel the least secure in their jobs with those who feel the most secure.”