Parenting

Most parents do the best they can to raise their children in strong, healthy families.

Parents and caregivers have told us they don’t think parenting is valued by society, and they feel unsupported. Being a parent/caregiver isn’t always easy and people don’t automatically have the skills and knowledge to do it well all the time.

To bring about greater recognition of the vital contribution that parents and caregivers make, the Families Commission wants:

  • all of society to acknowledge and value the parenting role
  • support to be readily available to all people raising children
  • parents and caregivers to participate shaping policies and programmes related to parenting.

Research Publications

Report
Tue 8 Dec, 2009

Supporting Kiwi Dads

Role and needs of New Zealand fathers

The Supporting Kiwi Dads research surveyed 1721 fathers in early 2009.

Download Report ( PDF 1.2 MB)
Blue Skies
Wed 2 Dec, 2009

Heart and Head

Explanation of the meaning of fatherhood

University of Canterbury researchers Dr Jeffrey Gage, Associate Professor Ray Kirk and Professor Andrew Hornblow conducted in-depth i

Blue Skies
Sat 1 Aug, 2009

We’re a Family

A study of how lesbians and gay men are creating and maintaining family in New Zealand

Lesbians and gay men can face significant challenges as they seek to create and maintain families that include children but in most cases they overcome these challenges with considerable success, new research funded by the Families Commission has found.