Living standards and material conditions of young New Zealand families.

• Author: Friesen, Myron D.
• Position: Report

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a descriptive profile of the personal characteristics and socio-economic circumstances of a cohort of young parents (N = 155) who had full-time care of at least one dependent child at 25 years of age. In addition, we investigated the extent to which these families were faced with material hardship and adverse living conditions, and examined the life-course pathways and concurrent risk factors that place young families at elevated risk of material hardship. Employing longitudinal data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, the results showed that around one in five of these young families were experiencing moderate to severe material hardship. Higher levels of material hardship were predicted by a range of antecedent and concurrent life-course experiences, including family socio-economic status in childhood, mental health problems in adolescence, family structure, and employment- and income-related factors in young adulthood. These findings are discussed in light of current social and economic policy for income maintenance, employment facilitation and welfare reduction.

INTRODUCTION

In New Zealand there is clear concern at the extent to which children are being raised in conditions of socio-economic disadvantage and poverty (Ballantyne et al. 2003, Maloney 2004, Jensen et al. 2006). Reinforcing these concerns is evidence demonstrating links between family socio-economic disadvantage and a wide range of adverse health, educational and behavioural outcomes for children. These adverse outcomes include an increased body mass index, poorer cardio-respiratory fitness and systolic blood pressure, higher rates of periodontal disease, educational underachievement, and elevated rates of mental health problems, spanning both internalising and externalising behaviour problems (Miech et al. 1999, Duncan and Brooks-Gunn 2000, Poulton et al. 2002, Gershoff et al. 2007).

Drawing on data from Statistics New Zealand, researchers have employed a range of analytic techniques to document New Zealand's relatively high and stable poverty rate.2 For example, Ballantyne and colleagues (2003) employed pooled data from 1997 to 2000 from the Income Supplement of the Household Labour Force Survey and estimated that New Zealand's child poverty rate exceeded 20% (23.2% for 1997/98 and 22.8% for 1998/99). This estimate was based on a threshold of child poverty of 60% or lower than the 1998 adjusted median household income. Relative to other countries using a similar threshold, this level of child poverty placed New Zealand slightly lower than Great Britain but higher than Spain, Hungary and Germany.

Because the New Zealand economy was rather stagnant during the late 1990s it could be argued that these seemingly high rates of child poverty may have arisen as a consequence of the poorer financial conditions of the overall population during this period. However, beginning in 2000 and 2001 the tide turned and the economy began to grow. According to data from Statistics New Zealand (2002), between 1999 and 2001 the unemployment rate decreased from 7.5% to 5.7%, the rate of participation in the labour force remained steady at 65%, and the average growth in weekly income for families with dependent children (7.16% from June 1999 to June 2001) was almost 2% higher than the rate of inflation (5.3% from June 1999 to June 2001).

In light of these broad economic gains, rates of child poverty might also have been expected to drop. However, a recent report by Perry (2007) further documented that the estimated rates of child poverty remained relatively stable during this period; and although there was a small reduction in 2004 as the economy continued its remarkable growth, it has always remained near or above 20%, depending on the type of poverty assessment employed (see Perry 2007:47-58). These national findings and trends tend to confirm public health and social concerns that, at any one time, around one in every four to five New Zealand children will be living in adverse socio-economic circumstances that are likely to affect their health, development and educational opportunities.

Early Parenthood and Life-Course Outcomes

One group of children who may be particularly vulnerable to risks associated with exposure to socio-economic disadvantage and poverty are children born to teenage and younger parents. Numerous studies over several decades have demonstrated that early parenthood is a significant risk factor for a variety of adverse outcomes for both parents and their offspring (for recent reviews, see Miller et al 2003, Pogarsky et al 2006). Findings show that young parents tend to obtain fewer educational qualifications, are more likely to be parenting alone or in unstable partnerships, and experience greater unemployment and welfare dependence than their peers who delay parenthood (Woodward et al. 2001, Miller et al. 2003, Boden et al. 2008). The children of young parents have also been reported to be at elevated risk of congenital medical problems and poor health, limited educational attainment, antisocial behaviour, and early parenthood themselves (Moffitt 2002, Miller et al. 2003, Pogarsky et al. 2006, Woodward et al. 2007).

Of additional concern are recent findings from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies suggesting that an early transition to parenthood is now a more atypical and disadvantaging life event than in previous decades (Maughan and Lindelow 1997, Brooks-Gunn et al. 2000, Moffitt 2002). In particular, since the advent of social welfare reforms in the 1970s there have been dramatic changes in the social context of early parenthood, with premarital childbearing, single parenthood and welfare dependence being increasingly common among younger mothers in particular (Furstenberg 1991, Butler 1992, Coley and Chase-Lansdale 1998, Cheesbrough et al. 1999). As a result, young parents today are frequently raising their children without the financial and emotional support of a partner and in a socio-economic climate of increasing inequality, qualification inflation, and increasing labour market demands (Hotz et al. 1997, Brooks-Gunn et al. 2000, Cheung, 2007).

Traditionally the marker for early parenting has been the teen years, but in the early 1990s authors began to argue that macro-level changes in many Western nations along with widespread demographic changes in the timing of parenthood now mean that a transition to parenthood in the early 20s may also carry some risks (Butler 1992, Maughan and Lindelow 1997). Data from Statistics New Zealand (2006) indicate that the median age of first child birth for all women in New Zealand is now over 28 years, and over 30 years for women who are married. Table 1 illustrates these national trends by comparing average birth rates across five age ranges between 1970 and 2005. Across the first three age groups (15-19, 20-24 and 25-29) birth rates have steadily decreased, and in 2005 were 58, 65, and 43% lower, respectively, than the average from 1970 to 1974. However, this pattern is reversed for the later two age groups (30-34 and 35-39), with birth rates steadily increasing since the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Present Study

Given these demographic shifts in the developmental timing of the transition to parenthood, there is good reason to raise concern about the socio-economic circumstances of those individuals who make an early or "off-time" transition to parenthood and family formation relative to the norm (Butler 1992, Maughan and Lindelow 1997, Moffitt 2002, Woodward et al. 2006). We need to better understand the links between life-course experiences, the timing of family formation and socioeconomic wellbeing. A clearer picture of these developmental pathways can inform social policy and provide important knowledge for designing interventions to help reduce cycles of poverty.

While large-scale nationally based data sets have provided valuable information on the extent to which New Zealand families are struggling to provide for their children in fluctuating social and economic conditions, these studies provide little information about the day-to-day living standards and material conditions of young parents and their children. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to describe the living standards and material circumstances of a high-risk sample of young parents (N = 155) who became parents prior to the age of 25. The specific objectives were to:

* provide a descriptive profile of the personal characteristics and socio-economic circumstances of a cohort of young parents caring for dependent children

* describe the day-to-day material living conditions and hardship experiences of this group of young parents and their children

* examine the life-course pathways and concurrent risk factors that place young parents at elevated risk of material hardship during their early parenting years.

METHOD

Participants

The Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS) is a prospective longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 Christchurch-born young people who have been studied at regular intervals from birth to age 25 years. In 2002, at the 25-year follow-up, all cohort members who had become biological parents or who were currently parenting a non-biological child as a step- or foster parent, were asked to participate in a separate parenting and family life interview. A total of 174 parents participated in this interview (75% of those eligible). Explanations for sample loss included refusal to participate (19%) and failure to trace or contact (6%). No significant (p

The present analysis was confined to the sample of 155 participants (110 women and 45 men) who were living full-time with at least one dependent child (either as a biological parent or step-parent/guardian). Compared to their non-parenting sameage peers, early parenting cohort members were more likely to be women (p

Measures

As part of the parenting interview...