ABSTRACT

In this article, we describe the life-time family structures, living arrangements, and residential mobility of 612 15-year-old New Zealanders and consider the differences in experiences of children born to younger and older mothers. All participants had a parent who is a member of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Maternal age at the participant’s birth ranged from 16.3 to 41.0 years. Data on young people’s life-time care arrangements, household composition and shifts were collected from their primary caregiver via a life history calendar. Fewer than half lived in a household consisting of two biological parents and only a fifth had lived in a household consisting of only nuclear family members for all 15 years. Most also experienced multiple changes of address (median 6, range 1–27). Those born to older parents tended to have fewer changes to care arrangements and family structures but most young people experienced a substantial degree of change across their lives. These data indicate that complexity and change are normal in young New Zealanders’ living arrangements. We argue that conventional ideas about family structure should be re-examined.

摘要

在本文中，我们描述了 612 名 15 岁新西兰人的终生家庭结构、生活安排和居住流动性，并考虑了年轻母亲和年长母亲所生孩子的经历差异。所有参与者的父母都是但尼丁多学科健康与发展研究的成员。参与者出生时的母亲年龄从 16.3 岁到 41.0 岁不等。通过生活史日历从他们的主要照顾者那里收集了有关年轻人终生护理安排、家庭组成和轮班的数据。不到一半的人生活在一个由两个亲生父母组成的家庭中，只有五分之一的人在一个只有核心家庭成员的家庭中生活了整整 15 年。大多数人还经历了多次地址更改（中位数 6，范围 1-27）。那些年长父母所生的人往往对照顾安排和家庭结构的变化较少，但大多数年轻人在他们的生活中经历了很大程度的变化。这些数据表明，新西兰年轻人生活安排的复杂性和变化是正常的。我们认为应该重新审视关于家庭结构的传统观念。