Kids turn 4, mums go back to work

Two-thirds of New Zealand mothers are back at work by the time their child is 4, new research shows.

The University of Auckland’s Growing Up In New Zealand study found two-thirds of mothers of 4-yearolds were in paid employment, compared with half of the same group of mothers when the children were age 2.

Growing Up In New Zealand follows 7000 children and their families from 12 weeks before the child’s birth and intends to track them to their 21st birthday. It’s led by Associate Professor Susan Morton.

The study’s latest report – Now We Are Four – is to be released this month.

Almost nine out of 10 children studied had at least one other sibling by the time they were 4, so financial pressures were likely to have risen – leading to mother’s heading back to work.

Researchers also found the numbers of overweight and obese children in the cohort were increasing.

Overweight children were not distributed evenly across ethnic groups and, in many cases, parents did not perceive body weight as a problem for their child, the Growing Up study found.

Similarly, more than 10 per cent of 41⁄2-yearolds in the survey were not enrolled in free dental services.

Issues with housing were also a factor in the study.

Researchers found household crowding was still a common occurrence. Many of the children were sleeping in beds or bedrooms that they shared with siblings and/or their parents.