Family Change in New Zealand and their Implications for Policy and Research

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Inaugural Roy McKenzie annual lecture

• Family Change in New Zealand and their
  Implications for Policy and Research
• 6 December 2004

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Sir Roy McKenzie ONZ, KBE
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Agenda

• My presentation today is in three parts
• The patterns of family change and the competing
  responses to it.
• Elements of a comprehensive response.
• The Families Commission and its work programme.
• I shall conclude with what we hope to achieve.

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The changing characteristics of New Zealand
families

• Fertility rates
• Age structure
• Ethnic diversity
• Family formation
• Family duration

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Fertility rates
Total fertility rates (TFR) live births per
woman, non-Maori and Maori 1945-2001
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Age structure
Age structures of major ethnic groups (percent),
2001 (Source Statistics New Zealand, 2001
Census)
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Age structure of major ethnic groups projections
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Family formation

• A number of changes have affected family
  formation.
• They include
• Marriage and cohabitation
• Separation and divorce
• Re-partnering
• Children and separation
• Age of mother at first birth
• Same-sex parents

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Marriage and co-habitation
Percent of women cohabiting or married, by age
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Separation and divorce

• Of women who married before 1970, 13 were
  separated in the first 10 years and 25 were
  separated within 20 years of marriage.
• Of those married between 1970-1979, 18 were
  separated within the first 10 years and 34
  within the first 20 years of marriage.

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After separation and divorce

• About 30 of separated women re-partnered in the
  first two years after separation and 74 had done
  so within 10 years.
• gt significant rise in the number of
  reconstituted and blended families.
• Of the children about half lived with their sole
  parent mothers, half lived with their mothers
  in a step-family or blended family.
• studies show any negative impact of separation
  and repartnering on children depends on the
  interplay of a complex array of factors including
  economic, neighborhood, parentchild relationship
  etc.
• More research is needed to determine exactly how
  these factors affect the impact on children.

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Age of mother at first birth

• Today over 50 of births occur to women aged 30
  years.
• The probability of having a birth by ages 20 and
  25 has declined in the last twenty years while
  the probability of having a first birth by age 30
  years has increased.

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Family structures and forms
Percent of households by type, ethnicity and
total population for 1976 and 2001
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Changes in parenting households
Families with dependent children, by family type
and marital status, 1981, 1991, 2001
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Issues affecting families

• Families and the labour market
• Work life balance
• Poverty
• Inequality
• Housing
• Family violence
• Child abuse and neglect
• Effect of government policies on families
• Families with older members
• Families living with members with disabilities

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Employment and family type for families with a
child under five years of age
Employment

• Employment and family change for families with a
  child under five years of age (Source NZ
  Families Today)

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Those on low incomes

• Families relying on income-tested benefits
• Sole parents
• Those with members from minority groups
• Those with dependent children and living in
  rented accommodation

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Reactions

• A sense of moral panic and a desire to return to
  the traditional family.
• A determination to learn more about the
  implications of these changes and how they might
  be addressed.
• In the meantime
• many families are engaged in an intense way at
  adapting family life in a changing world.
• Families continue to provide excellent care for
  their children and other family members within
  the new structures and new forms of relationships.

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Elements of a comprehensive response to the
family

• Positive family outcomes occur when a number of
  elements are aligned in a manner that is mutually
  supportive.
• The ecological metaphor provides a useful
  checklist of each aspect of a familys context
  that contributes positively when aligned.
• Here are some of the key elements

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The immediate family setting

• The family/whanau
• Roles of members
• Relationships between members
• Activities in which one is engaged

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Neighbourhood setting

• Where we participate directly
• Roles of members
• Relationships between members
• Activities engaged in
• Linkages the most critical element
• Sharing values and information

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Policy-making settings

• Where decisions are made affecting a person but
  where he or she is not represented
• These are largely decision making and policy
  setting bodies
• Key aspect that makes a difference is the
  presence of advocates for the person whose
  context is being analysed

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The philosophical blueprint

• Societal development tracks
• Pervasive influence of
• Class
• Culture
• Gender
• Age
• Disability
• Values

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The Elements in Combination
Societal Ideology reflected in culture, class,
gender etc
Supportive policies
Communities
Families
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Why a Families Commission?

• Given the enormous changes to families in the
  21st century, the Families Commission is one
  organisation that has the mandate to consider the
  overarching policy implications of these changes.
• The New Zealand Families Commission is a unique
  institution in this regard.
• Its modus operandi should enable involvement of
  key institutions and potentially every community
  to participate in these considerations.

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Our Vision and Mission

• Our Vision
• Family the foundation of our society
• Ko te whanau te poutokomanawa o te iwi

Our Mission
Our Mission Advocating best outcomes for
families
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Our role

• To be an advocate for all New Zealand families
• To influence policy
• To undertake new research
• To inform and encourage debate
• To consider the issues that impact on New Zealand
  families

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Our scope

• Looking at all the issues faced by families
• Encompassing the full range of diverse families
• Focusing on the functions of families
• nurturing, rearing, socialising and protecting
  children
• caring for older people and people with
  disabilities
• passing on knowledge, culture, values
• creating a sense of belonging and connectedness

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The Commissions work programme

• Our primary vehicle for organising our work
• Informed advocates
• Other initiatives to address current issues
  affecting families will be added to these
  projects in the next two months

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Families with dependent children aspirations
and realities

• This is a significant project. It will
• engage with New Zealand families.
• review the literature on what accounts for
  successful family outcomes.
• seek the view of families, through focus groups
  and surveys, on what they consider to be the
  determinants of success and the constraints of
  achieving the outcomes they desire.
• undertake a survey of a significant number of
  families that is informed by the material from
  the literature review and the focus groups.
• The Commissions policy advice and community
  education will be informed by the results of this
  project.

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The impact of government policies on families

• This project seeks to
• develop a methodology for assessing the impact of
  government policies on families
• assess the impacts of policies on family
  formation, size, living arrangements, etc.
• This project is at the RFP stage.

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Review of parenting programmes
This project is currently being scoped and will
most likely undertake

• an analysis of existing provision
• an analysis of who uses the various programmes
• identification and analysis of alternative
  interventions which seek the same outcomes as the
  parenting programmes.

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Families living with older membersFamilies
living with members with a disability

• These two projects are at an early stage of
  development and their final form will depend on
  what we learn from the project on families with
  dependent children.

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Interrogation of data from the current
longitudinal studies from a family lens

• This project is designed to extract whatever we
  may learn from the four current longitudinal
  studies.
• We are in discussion with the leaders of these
  projects and they have may consider undertaking
  some additional work from a families
  perspective.

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Longitudinal research into New Zealand families

• Through our participation in the Ministry of
  Social Development longitudinal study we expect
  to clarify the parameters of a future
  longitudinal study on the family and possible
  research partners.
• This programme will be developed in the current
  financial year.

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Develop a long-term research programme for the
Commission

• The Commissions long-term research programme
  should be finalised by 31 March 2005.
• I expect discussion with family researchers
  before this is finalised.

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Accessing the views of the community

• Including tangata whenua, Pacific peoples and
  minority ethnic groups.
• Section 13 of the Families Commission Act
  mandates such consultation.
• An initial strategy will be developed by December
  2004.
• The Commission will have begun accessing
  community views in early 2005 through Project 1.

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Public education

• Where relevant, each project will have a public
  education programme for promoting family
  resilience and strengths.

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An opportunity for new work on families

• Ten projects per year
• To be published
• Funded
• Creative and Blue Skies Work

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What we want to achieve

• A better deal for New Zealand families
• changing perceptions
• valuing of the family
• empowering families to make choices and take
  opportunities
• influencing policies that affect families
• creating a more supportive environment for
  families.

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And finally

• We need to remember that many families do well.
• Thank you.