This annual report - Taranaki District Health Board

CHILDREN IN SOLE PARENT HOUSEHOLDSIntroductionOver the past 20 years, New Zealand has seen a decline in the proportion of two parentfamilies and an increase in the proportion of one-parent families. In 1976, 10.4% offamilies with dependent children had one resident parent, compared to 28.1% in 2006 [29].It is estimated that a third of New Zealand children have lived with a solo mother by thetime they are 17 years old [30]. Sole-parenthood is also more common among Māori andPacific children than NZ European children [31]. For example in 2006, 36 per cent of Māoribabies and 32 per cent of Pacific babies lived with a sole mother, compared to 14 per centof NZ European babies. One-parent families are a heterogeneous group however, thatdiffer by their route into sole parenthood (which may result from bereavement, separation,imprisonment of a spouse, or birth outside of a live-in relationship), and by the parent’sgender, age, health, and socioeconomic circumstances [31]. Many children in sole-parentfamilies have a parent living in another household who is actively involved in their care andfinancial support.Family composition however, is closely linked to the socioeconomic resources available todependent children, an important underlying determinant of health. The proportion of soleparentfamilies experiencing disadvantage is consistently high, both compared to twoparentfamilies, and in absolute terms [31]. During 2010–2011, 61 per cent of all children insole-parent households were in the bottom quintile of equivalised household income(annual household income equivalised with respect to household composition), comparedto 19 per cent of children in two-parent households [8]. In 2011, sole-parent householdswith dependent children had the highest income poverty rates of all household types at58%, compared to 12% of two-parent families with dependent children. The New ZealandGeneral Social Survey found that half of all households deemed ‘high-risk’ (5 or more riskfactors which include cigarette smoking, living in a high deprivation area, housing problemsand poor physical and mental health) were sole-parent households [32].In addition, research suggests that parental separation is associated with a wide range ofshort and long term adverse effects on children’s wellbeing, including: schooling, physicalhealth, mental and emotional health, social conduct and behaviour, peer relations,cigarette smoking, substance use, early-onset sexual behaviour, early child-bearing, loneparenthood and low occupational status [33]. The Christchurch Health and DevelopmentStudy found that while children whose parents separated were at increased risks of laterinternalizing (i.e. anxiety/depression, withdrawal, and somatic complaints) andexternalizing (i.e. attention problems, aggressive and oppositional behaviour) problems,much of the increased risk was due to factors that were present before the separation ordivorce [34]. These factors included socioeconomic disadvantage, elevated rates ofadverse life events and higher levels of inter-parental conflict. There were small increasedrisks of later conduct problems, mood disorder and substance abuse in children exposedto parental separation.As a consequence, not only do sole-parent families reflect a diversity of experience, butthe impacts that changes in family composition have on children’s physical andpsychological wellbeing may also vary, depending on individual family circumstances andthe impact parental separation has on their socioeconomic position.The following section reviews the proportion of children living in sole parent households atthe 2006 Census.Children in Sole Parent Households - 93