Study of 7000 NZ children will make a difference

Study of 7000 NZ children will make a difference

1 October 2013

From today responsibility for managing the ground breaking study of 7000 New Zealand pre-schoolers transfers to the Social Policy Evaluation and Research unit within the Families Commission.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett announced the decision to transfer contract management of the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study as part of Budget 2013.

The Families Commission’s Chief Commissioner Belinda Milnes says, “This move is part of the Commission’s new evidence-based focus to improve the lives of New Zealand families and whānau. Our job is to use evidence to determine what works and what doesn’t.

“As the largest and most culturally diverse longitudinal study to be conducted in New Zealand, Growing Up offers huge potential to provide rich new information of real significance for decision makers, especially in the health, education and social policy areas,” says Ms Milnes.

The study is unique to New Zealand because of the sheer number of children being studied, including, for the first time, significant numbers of Māori, Pacific and Asian families, and the fact that it commenced before the children were born, when mothers and their partners were interviewed.

“We’ll be working with the University of Auckland’s Growing Up in New Zealand team to fully mine and exploit the study’s potential.”

The Director of Growing Up in New Zealand, Associate Professor Susan Morton says, “It is very exciting to be entering the pre-school data collection phase. Understanding what shapes children in the critical early years of their development in the context of contemporary New Zealand, is essential if we are to improve outcomes for all our children.”

The preschool data collection wave begins for the main cohort of almost 7000 children and their families in the next few weeks and will run for the next 12 months.

Both the Families Commission and the Growing Up team are very grateful to these families who have agreed to contribute to this important study. Their commitment and the information they provide about the lives of their children and their families will make a real difference for children in New Zealand, both now and in the future.

ENDS

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