Caring responsibilities
In the 2025 Public Service Census, about half of public servants reported that they had caring responsibilities (53%), including caring for children, relatives, or friends. There was a small increase in caring responsibilities for both women (53% of women compared to 50% in 2021) and men (53% of men compared to 51% in 2021), but a decline for people with another gender or multiple genders (26%, down from 32% in 2021).
Parental leave
Parental leave varies significantly by gender. As at 30 June 2024, there were 902 employees on parental leave (1.4% of the Public Service workforce) including 876 females (97% of total on leave) and 26 males (3% of total on leave).
Satisfaction with balance between life and work
In the 2025 Public Service Census, work/life balance improved to 55% satisfied compared to 52% in 2021. This was lower than the 69% of employed New Zealanders who were satisfied with their work/life balance in the 2023 General Social Survey.
Learn more about the General Social Survey on the StatsNZ website.