Timeframe
2023-2024
Funding
A Better Start National Science Challenge
COMPASS staff
Barry Milne
Sophie Moullin
Collaborators
Ministry of Social Development
Moira Wilson
Keith McLeod Consulting
Keith McLeod
Description
This project aims to investigate the impact of the “Families Package” on child and maternal health and wellbeing outcomes. The “Families Package” was introduced in July 2018 to improve child and family wellbeing by targeting the material wellbeing of families – see the report at https://msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/evaluation/family-packages/early-years-impacts-full-report.pdf.
As an example, one component of the package – Best Start – paid families up to $60 per week per child for the first year of the child’s life. In addition, paid parental leave was increased from 18 to 22 weeks in July 2018, and again from 22 to 26 weeks in July 2020.
Research from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has shown that the package resulted in net income gains for families (see the report linked above), but to date there have been no investigations of the impact on children.