Major changes in paid work and living arrangements have taken place for mid-life men and women in New Zealand since the early 1980s. When the variables are looked at independently, we find fewer such men and women living as couples, fewer men and more women in paid work, and fewer men and women living with dependent children.

When these variables are brought together we see an increasing diversity of living arrangements (including whether a person lives with children) and work arrangements. This includes some growth in the proportion of women and men who are not employed, not partnered, and not living with children. When only those living in couples are considered we also see an increasing diversity of work arrangements. This diversity has emerged over periods of economic decline and economic growth. However, some of this diversity could also be characterised as polarisation with growth in both work-rich and work-poor couples. Although a strong labour market to 2006 substantially reduced the proportion of work-poor couples, they were not back to the proportions seen in 1981 or 1986. This lends some support to the Gregg and Wadsworth (1994) hypothesis that recessions in recent decades increase the number of work-poor households, but in times of strong economic growth do not reduce the number of work-poor households to the same extent. In addition, within the workpoor couples, a larger proportion has both partners not in the labour force, indicating perhaps a higher level of disconnect from the labour market than seen in the past.

Key words: work rich, work poor, couples