Abstract
Currently in New Zealand the increase in Māori, Pasifika and Asian people is remarkable, while the European population is decreasing. This means an increasingly diverse ethnicity within the population of elderly people over 65 years. With this, the role of the immigrant healthcare workers increases, the Care and Support Worker (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 expired in 2022, thereby the remuneration of care workers is stagnating even though New Zealanders themselves are choosing not to work in the aged care sector. This increasing reliance on a workforce of immigrants is a ‘ the fill in the gap’ measure that will not deal with these problems at a fundamental level. It is essential to take a two-pronged approach: reassessing the value of care work and raising public awareness at the same time.
