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Many Pasifika mothers hope their children will belong to a church.
However european mothers are far more likely to hope their children would grow up to respect cultural diversity.
This is one of the findings survey of about 7000 expectant parents of children born in Auckland and Waikato in 2009-10.
The $3 million-a-year Growing Up study has already reported on the children’s health and wellbeing up to 2 years old.
The latest report, published in the Australian journal Family Matters, covers the last question asked in pre-birth interviews: “Please give us one or two sentences about the hopes, dreams and expectations you have for your baby.”
Other facts that emerged include:
- Nearly half of the children identify with more than one ethnic group.
- Children up to two years of age are spending more and more time with digital media such as computers, laptops, CDs, iPods and MP3 players.
- Income drops for many families during and immediately after pregnancy, meaning there is no surplus money for things like a home deposit.
- Unplanned pregnancies account for 40% of births.
- Lack of choice in housing affects areas ranging from pre-school attendance through to continuity of healthcare and community belonging.
- Almost all the children completed their Well Child/Tamariki Ora health checks in their first nine months.
- By the time they were six weeks old, 75% had been to Plunket.
- One in three (30%) of children live in a house where their mother and another adult smokes.
- Nearly all (95%) children had their 15-month immunisations but this was lowest for the most vulnerable families.
- A quarter of our children are growing up in extended family situations.
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