The secret life of 4-year-olds

Nearly half the mothers of 7000 preschoolers in a government study live in rented homes and move often.

The study, Growing Up in New Zealand, found 50 per cent of the 4-year-olds had moved homes at least once from the age of 2. Increasing numbers were living with a single parent, the research shows.

Maori were more likely to live with a sole parent; Pacific households were most overcrowded.

The University of Auckland research found one in five mothers had depressive symptoms during or since pregnancy and that by age 4, nearly all the children spent time away from their parent in an early childhood setting.

The findings have been released as part of the Now We Are Four segment of the research, which began in 2008 following 7000 children to the age of 21. Last year the study was reportedly cut to 2000 children.

The multimillion-dollar study is run by the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit, or Superu. It used to be the Families Commission.

Families Commissioner and Superu board chair Len Cook said the effect of rental accommodation on families needed further exploration.

He said Pacific households appeared to bear the most significant effects of overcrowding with half of all Pacific 4-year-olds sleeping in a room with adults.

Single parenting had implications for services supporting sole parents and their children, as previous research showed single-parent households faced greater financial stress.

Now children were mostly in early childhood education it meant a shift in family dynamics as mothers went back to work, leading to improved economic circumstances.

Research director Associate Professor Susan Morton said it was reassuring to see the majority of the children were thriving.

The next report, to be released later this year, is Transition to School.