Purpose
This report was a collaboration between the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) and the Voices of Children and Young People team at Oranga Tamariki —Ministry for Children, supported by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The Voices of Children team – within the Tamariki Advocate business group – engages with children and young people to ensure that the work of Oranga Tamariki is informed by an understanding of the experiences and aspirations of children and young people, particularly Māori.
The project was carried out in October and November 2018 and engaged with more than 6000 children and young people.
- 5607 children and young people completed an online survey
- 423 were spoken with face to face through a series of focus groups and interviews in 19 towns and cities across New Zealand.
Methodology
We used online surveys, face to face interviews and focus groups to hear from children and young people. The surveys reached 5,631 children and young people in almost 100 primary, intermediate and secondary schools and alternative education providers. It was also shared on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website. We heard from children with a mix of urban/rural, socio-economic status, ethnicity and age characteristics. Detail on the characteristics of survey participants is provided in the graphics on the following pages, with further detail contained in Appendix Two.
Our surveys asked children and young people what having a good life means to them, whether they are experiencing a good life right now, and what could be done to help all children and young people in New Zealand to have a good life. We used interviews and focus groups to hear from children and young people who we knew would be more likely to have faced, or be facing, challenges in their lives. These included children and young people living in poverty, living in state care, with a disability, from rural areas, aged under three years, with refugee backgrounds, who identify as LGBTIQ+, who are recent migrants or who have received a mental health diagnosis.
In the interviews and focus groups we asked children and young people for their views on what it means to have a good life. We asked what having a good life means to them, what helps with having a good life and what gets in the way. Prompting questions encouraged children and young people to think about what having a good life means to them personally, what it means for the people around them and what it means in relation to the places and communities they are a part of.
Conversations with children and young people were organised through the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s community partners (mostly NGOs, including alternative education providers and iwi social services) and Oranga Tamariki sites. Community partners and Oranga Tamariki sites were involved from the outset, supporting us to engage with each group of children and young people in a way that would work for them.
Throughout this report we have used children and young people’s own words as much as possible. Some of the quotes contain grammar or spelling mistakes. Where the intent of the quote can be understood we have left these unedited. Where quotes are used we reference the young person’s age, gender and any other characteristics they
identified themselves. Participants aged 0-12 years we refer to as ‘children’ or ‘tamariki’ if they identified as Māori. Those aged 13 and over we refer to as ‘young people’ or ‘rangatahi’ if they identified as Māori. Where we refer to young mums, they are under the age of 18.
Key Results
Children and young people told us what wellbeing means to them.
To children and young people, a good life is one where they can feel accepted, valued and respected, be happy, have the support of family and friends, have their basic needs met, enjoy good physical and mental health, have a good education and feel safe.
Most children and young people say they are experiencing wellbeing, but some are facing significant challenges.
A majority of children and young people told us that they are doing well, but up to a third are facing challenges in some areas of their life, and one in ten are facing multiple challenges. Around 2% of children are facing major challenges in multiple areas of their lives. The challenges children and young people are facing include racism, bullying, discrimination, judgement, violence, drugs and a feeling of continually being let down.
Overall, we learned that change is needed to support children and young people’s wellbeing.
- Change is needed. Almost everyone who shared their views, including those who said that they were doing well, could point to something that needed to change if all children and young people are to have a good life.
- Family and whānau are crucial. Children and young people told us that families must be well in order for children to be well, and families must be involved in making things better
- Providing the basics is important, but not enough on its own. Intrinsic things such as feeling accepted, valued and respected are just as important as material needs. Children and young people want more than just a minimum standard of living.
- Children and young people have valuable insights. Government initiatives should respond to children and young people’s needs, wants and aspirations. Listening to children and young people’s views regularly and meaningfully is the best way to achieve this.