Growing Up in New Zealand - Budget 2023

Continuing to support one of New Zealand’s key longitudinal studies providing insights into the lives of young people - Wellbeing Budget 2023.

This initiative provides funding for four years to continue the Growing Up in New Zealand study, which has been following young people from birth.

The Government is investing $30 million over four years (2023/24 to 2026/27) to continue funding the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) longitudinal study that provides important insights into childhood development, including how early life experiences impact outcomes in later life. Current funding is due to end on 30 June 2023.

• GUiNZ is a multi-disciplinary longitudinal study started in 2009 which has followed a group of 6,853 youth in the Tāmaki Makaurau/Waikato regions since pregnancy.
• The value of GUiNZ is in its unique ability to measure wellbeing over time, providing insight into factors which enable and inhibit wellbeing that can be used to design effective interventions and supports.
• GUiNZ is the only longitudinal study running in New Zealand that has youth participants, strong representation of Māori, Pacific, and Asian peoples, and includes data collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• There is a need for longitudinal evidence about youth wellbeing, including their transitions into puberty and secondary school, involvement with crime, and how their life pathways and aspirations have been impacted by COVID-19.
• This next stage of investment will provide information about the GUINZ participants as they transition through puberty, adolescence, school, and into adulthood and work. Combined, there is a unique and timely opportunity for GUiNZ to provide vital evidence as to how the pandemic and other factors have impacted and continue to impact a diverse range of young people and their life paths. These insights can be used to inform the Government’s recovery strategy and help to improve outcomes for future generations and reduce inequities.
• This funding will also allow GUiNZ to proactively engage with rangatahi who they have lost contact with and support them to remain in the study, and will allow engagements with survey participants at 14 and 16 years.