3.1 Demographics

The participants in the study included:

Thirty-six women and fourteen men, most of whom were aged between 31 and 50 years.

• Twenty nine European, twelve Maori and seven Samoan, one Samoan/Chinese and one Fijian participant.^[5]
• Thirty two participants who lived in urban areas, twelve who lived in small towns, and six who lived in rural areas.
• Thirty-two participants with a post school qualification (either a degree or trade/vocational); eleven with a school qualification, and seven with no school qualifications. The proportion with a university qualification (44%) is twice as high as the proportion of the population as a whole (18%).^[6]

Twelve participants in households where the gross annual income was less than $40,000 annually (defined as 'low' income). Eleven participants had an annual household income of between $40,001 and $70,000 ('medium' income), and seventeen had a household income of between $70,001 and $100,000 annually ('high' income). Ten participants had a household income of over $100,000 annually ('very high' income).

The national average household income in 2003-04 was $60,433.^[7] Seventy percent of the sample had a household income over $50,000 per year, while over half (27 or 54%) had a household income of $70,000 per year or more, which means that the sample was better off on average than the population as a whole.

Thirty-seven participants with a partner; in 34 families both partners were the parents of the children. Three participants were or had been in a family that included step-children.

Thirteen single people, one of whom was widowed. Three others had no support from the other parent because the parent was in prison, overseas, or the participant had had no contact with them since the child's birth.

Ten single parents had a range of day to day care arrangements - shared day to day care, stipulated weekends and time in the school holidays, and informal arrangements that were liable to change. Most single parents had been parenting alone for at least five years, generally since their youngest or only child was an infant or pre-schooler. One person who was single had had permanent care of her grandchild for the last ten years.

3.2 Caring responsibilities

All but one participant cared for children as the primary caregiver. One person had the care of an adult only, and thirteen had the care of both adults and children.

Thirty-seven people had one or two children, six participants had three children, and six had four or five children.

The majority of participants had a youngest child of pre-school or primary school age; eight had a youngest child at secondary school. The children covered within the study were aged from five months to eighteen years.

Nine participants had children with special needs. These were related to children having one of the following conditions: cerebral palsy, downs syndrome, dyspraxia, cystic fibrosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental delay and other physical conditions, and autism.

These conditions required a range of daily care, as the comments below show:

Both [my children] have cerebral palsy and epilepsy. One child is severely disabled and totally dependent. One child is semi mobile, can feed himself, is non verbal. Both require medication, both are incontinent. [My older child] has a gastro tube and is fed through that.

It's not that debilitating. He's a little slower and he will always be like that. Things take more time; we just have to go slower. I'm just more aware when he's there.

All of the school aged children with special needs were at school.

Most of the twenty participants caring for adults were caring for one or both of their parents or parents-in-law. Three people cared for adult children with disabilities, and one cared for a spouse with a disability. The extent of care ranged from regular phone calls and visits and occasionally doing other tasks, to more regular and intense support such as managing finances, providing meals, assisting with shopping, visiting doctors, and doing household chores. In a few cases, the adult being cared for lived with the participant and required constant supervision. In other instances the cared-for adult lived in a separate house on the same section or nearby. Some participants had caring responsibilities for their adult parents who lived in different towns, and spent a great deal of time travelling to provide support for them.

3.3 Participation in paid work

Thirty-seven participants were in paid work at the time of the study - part and full time^[8]; thirteen were not in any paid work. Paid work hours ranged from very irregular contract work averaging a few hours a week, to over 40 hours a week.

Occupations covered all major New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations groups, with 43 (86%) falling into the first four categories and seven (14%) into the second four categories.

The professional group included teachers, IT workers, policy analysts, a university lecturer, a veterinarian, project manager, accountant and an industrial chemist. The technician/associate professional group included office administrators or managers (10 out of the 22), social and community workers (6), teacher aides, a writer, a musician and a nurse. A full list of occupations is given in Appendix III.

All participants were in paid work prior to having children, most of them full time. One partner usually stopped paid work on the birth of a first child, irrespective of personal characteristics, including occupation or income. People in highly paid professions were as likely to stop as those in lower paid work.

Which partner left paid work depended to some extent on income, although views on gender roles also influenced who stayed at home. Women usually stayed home when their children were younger. Most participants not in paid work were caring for pre-schoolers. Most participants with a youngest child at primary school were in some paid work, over half of them full time. Every participant with a youngest child at secondary school was in some paid work. Partners generally stayed in full time paid work throughout.

* One more participant working full time cared for an adult only.

The length of time people stayed out of paid work varied, and largely depended on their views about parental and family care for children, and family support available. A number did not return to any paid work until their children were school age, and not to full time paid work until children were in secondary school. Some did not return to work at all.

People who were in part time paid work fell roughly into three categories. Ten worked very few and irregular hours (up to 10 hours per week). Most were contractors who were either in the process of building up paid work, or had basically left paid work. Four people worked 16 to 29 hours a week. Three were employees; one was self-employed. They included professionals, trades people and clerical workers. People working part time had children of varying ages.

Twenty-two people in full time paid work were employees; one was a self employed hairdresser. Twenty-one of the 22 employees were managers, professionals or associate professionals, the other was a clerk.

This group included people who had always been in full time paid work apart from periods of parental leave, and people who had had periods of not working and/or working part time. Their partners were also in full time paid work. Most people in this group had a youngest child of school age. Most of those who had always worked full time had a lot of family support, and/or work that they could arrange around caring for children, for example, by one partner working an evening shift. Few couples had maintained the 'two parents in full time paid work' pattern throughout their children's lives.

3.4 Summary

The sample included a range of participants: people aged between 20 and 65; men and women; European, Maori and Pacific people; living rurally, in small towns and urban centres. It included a disproportionate number of participants with a tertiary qualification and levels of income above the national average. Other studies have tended to focus on those with low income or sole parents; this study has a mix of income levels, particularly around those in the higher brackets who are often 'forgotten'.

All but one participant cared for children, and a quarter cared for children with special needs or an adult with a disability. One person cared for an adult only.

Participants were in part time and full time paid work, or not in paid work. People usually stopped paid work upon the birth of a child, going back part or full time as their youngest child went to school. People who worked few or irregular hours were usually contractors; those who worked longer, more regular part time hours or full time were almost all employees.