Like many developed nations, New Zealand has an aging population, by 2031 those aged over 65, the current retirement age, will be equivalent to 35 percent of the working age (15-64) population. A new Department of Labour report estimates that by 2036 48,200 paid caregivers will be needed to provide care for a growing number of older disabled New Zealanders. The report notes;

It is highly unlikely that the local supply will be sufficient to meet this demand. Therefore immigration of low-skill workers needs to be considered as a part of the measures needed to alleviate the future pressures on the demand for paid caregivers for the elderly.

As of 2006 a quarter of the aged care workforce already comes from outside New Zealand, mostly from Polynesia and the Philippines. The report notes that a global rise in the demand for aged care workers will mean New Zealand will need to seek migrants from elsewhere, such as Melanesia and “non-traditional” parts of Asia. While this could be a real opportunity for many workers in the developing world, it is not all positive. Feminist blog The Hand Mirror commented:

[M]elanesia and non-traditional parts of [A]sia. in other words women of colour. still doing the work that the rest of the nation doesn’t want to dirty their hands with. still doing it for very little pay. the age of servitude is not really over, is it?

Indeed the report notes that aged care is a low paid and low status job. The Service and Food Workers Union and the Nurses organisation have been running a campaign to improve the pay of aged care workers, and have criticised the last health budget which provided little for workers in the sector.