Mothers

The last 50 years have seen major changes in the characteristics of families and the ways in which they are formed.

The current total fertility level is about 2.0 births per woman, which is below the level required for a population to replace itself without migration. Fertility rates below replacement level are a common feature among developed countries, and New Zealand’s rate is relatively high compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Women are having children later in life, giving birth at a median age of 30 years with a median age of giving birth to a first child of 28 years.

Fertility rates for women 30 years and over have increased over the last decade. Women aged 30–34 now have the highest fertility rate. Fertility rates for women aged under 30 have generally decreased over the last few decades, particularly among those aged 20–24. Māori and Pacific women, however, are more likely to have children at a younger age.

New Zealand has one of the highest teenage fertility rates among comparable OECD countries, although teenage fertility rates have generally decreased over the last five years.

Fewer women are marrying: in 1971, 65 percent of women aged 15 years and over were married. By 2001 this had fallen to 48 percent.

Divorce rates have increased and de facto relationships have become more common. Between 1981 and 2001, the proportion of partnered women aged 15 years and over living in a de facto relationship increased from 6 to 19 percent.

More people are choosing to have children outside of marriage and many of these children are to couples living in de facto relationships. In 2001, 43 percent of births were to women who were not legally married, compared with 14 percent in 1971.

Different family forms and household types are becoming more common. The proportion of families with one parent has risen from 10.4 percent of families with dependent children in 1976 to 29.2 percent in 2001. Sole parents are far more likely to be women. New Zealand has a higher proportion of sole parent families than almost all other OECD countries.

In 2004, 59.6 percent of women were participating in the paid workforce, compared with 73.8 percent of men. This difference is primarily due to much lower levels of participation in paid work by women in the age groups when child rearing typically takes place. Women, by and large, take primary responsibility for the care of children while they are young.

New Zealand, compared with other OECD countries has relatively high rates of participation in paid work by women. The participation rates for women aged 25–39, particularly sole parents and those with pre-school children, are lower than OECD averages. The low participation rate of sole parents has particular significance given New Zealand’s high proportion of sole parent families.
 
Parents of young children are working more than in the past. The total hours worked by couples with pre-school children has increased since 1986. This reflects increasing employment rates for mothers, decreasing numbers of mothers working short hours and increasing proportions of fathers working long hours.

Women tend to take on primary responsibility for care of children. Availability, accessibility and quality of childcare are, therefore, key factors influencing their ability to choose the level of participation in paid work that suits them.

New Zealand ranks in the top group of OECD countries (where data is available) for the proportion of children under three years who are enrolled in formal childcare.

In addition, a 1998 survey found that problems accessing early childhood education and care were a barrier to employment for 15 percent of parents. Mothers were more likely than fathers to report this barrier (22 percent compared with 5 percent). The most common reasons given by mothers experiencing difficulty accessing early childhood education and care were: cost; lack of trusted, informal care; unsuitable or inflexible hours at care services; and lack of local services.