Who are we?

The Growing Up Generation - Who are we?

• There are more than 7,000 of us
• Our mothers say 44 percent of us are European, 24 percent Māori, 15 percent Pacifica and 15 percent Asian
• A third of us have at least one parent who was born overseas
• When our mothers were pregnant they were in Auckland, South Auckland or the Waikato
• Some of us live in other cities and towns now
• Our parents are mobile - half of them moved twice in the five years before we were born
• Half of us live in rental accommodation

Our parents:

• 97 percent of our parents are able to have a conversation in English
• More than a third of our parents have tertiary education qualifications
• Eight percent of our mums and 12 percent of our dads are students
• The most usual languages spoken at home after English are Samoan, Hindi, Tongan and Mandarin
• Nearly 63 percent of our parents are either married or in a civil union
• Our median household income in the year before we were born was between $70,000 and $100,000.

Our mums:

• 60 percent of us were planned
• Our mums have an average age of 30
• 49 percent of our mums identify as NZ European, 18 percent as Māori, 15 percent as Pacific people and 15 percent as Asian
• More than a third of our mums can speak more than one language
• 20 percent of our mums speak a language other than English at home
• Nearly half of our mums are first-time mothers
• Five percent of our mums are teenagers
• 10 percent of our parents had some fertility assistance
• More than half our mums had jobs before we were born

When our mums were pregnant:

• 90 percent made changes to their diet
• 16 percent did not take folate at any time before or during pregnancy
• More than one in 10 mums continued to smoke
• Many of our mums kept drinking
• Most said they wanted to breastfeed until we were at least six months old
• Most plan to immunise us, but three percent don't and 12 percent were undecided

Our dads or our mum's partner:

• Our dads have an average age of 33
• 57 percent of our dads identify as NZ European, 15 percent as Māori, 12 percent as Pacific people and 14 percent as Asian
• Almost a third of dads can speak more than one language
• More than 80 percent of dads or partners were working when mum was pregnant