Parents with dependent children living in other households

Many parents who have separated from their spouse or partner have children living in another household. Because family statistics are household based, these parent-child relationships are not counted.

The 2008 New Zealand General Social Survey showed around 240,000 respondents or their partners had children under 18 years who did not live in the same household as them. Of these people with children living in other households, the largest group (around 80,000 or 33 percent), had a partner and dependent children living in their own household. A further 29 percent lived with a partner but had no dependent children in the household, while 27 percent had neither a partner nor dependent children in the same household. The remaining 11 percent of people with children under 18 years living elsewhere comprised sole parents with dependent children living with them.

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