Social Investment Agency

We are excited to announce our upcoming Symposium! 👩🏫 NZPRI is hosting a Wellington Symposium on the 7th of November, to showcase our latest work. Join us, our guest speakers and panellists for this free one-day event! See the full programme and register here: https://bit.ly/4eTVL3v #research #symposium #policy #NZPRI

Chronic absence in students has doubled in the last decade, and the system to help students back to school isn’t working! ERO is recommending substantial reform across the system. ERO’s latest report highlights how students with chronic absence are missing out on vital schooling which is having a major impact on their learning and life outcomes. There is also actions that schools can take that make a massive difference! Schools that have low rates of chronic absence do three things well; 1) work in close coordination with Attendance Services, 2) do/know what they are responsible for, and 3) hold students, parents and whānau, and Attendance Service staff accountable. Check out the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gYQm6GrH

Two prominent University of Otago longitudinal studies have received government funding for a new infrastructure platform to support their world-leading science.   The new platform, known as the Otago Lifecourse Study Programme, will receive around $2 million per annum from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-administered Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) over seven years. It will support the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (the Dunedin Study) and the Christchurch Health and Development Study (the Christchurch Study) with a set of processes and systems designed to protect the valuable data gathered by the studies gather over several decades. The Dunedin Study is New Zealand’s longest-running longitudinal study and is considered the world’s most detailed study of human health and development. It follows the lives of 1,037 babies born in Dunedin between 1 April 1972 and 31 March 1973. The Christchurch study follows the health, education and life progress of 1,265 babies born in the Christchurch urban region in mid-1977.   Read more about these studies and funding for the new platform: 📰 University of Otago news item https://lnkd.in/gqHuKu_E 💻 MBIE website https://lnkd.in/g4TNJB8D 📷 Researchers from the Dunedin Study demonstrate a hearing test that study members undergo during their assessments. Photo supplied by University of Otago.

A new study on the link between the knowledge and skills (‘human capital’) of parents and their children using data from Growing Up in New Zealand is now published online. The report was funded by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and authored by NZPRI researchers Leon Iusitini, Alexander Plum, and Gail Pacheco alongside Valmai Copeland (formerly Oranga Tamariki) and Jason Timmins (formerly New Zealand Productivity Commission). The report finds that the higher the mother's education level, the better the child’s cognitive skills, on average. In part, this is because higher-educated mothers have many books in the home and read frequently to their children during the preschool years. The report discusses how public policy could help boost children’s skills and social mobility. Read the report here: https://bit.ly/3MXfKlj #AUTReasearch #childdevelopment #monthers #education

New research based on data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study has identified key early-life factors that may increase the risk of depression in children as they grow older. The study found that children whose mothers smoked, experienced mental health issues or lived in deprivation during pregnancy and the first year of life were more likely to experience symptoms of depression by age 12. Key findings: ➡ 12.8% of children had four or more risk factors, significantly increasing their likelihood of depression. ➡ Risk factors included maternal smoking, mental health challenges (such as stress or anxiety), and material hardship during the perinatal period. ➡ Early interventions—such as supporting maternal mental health, reducing poverty, and providing education on the impacts of smoking and substance use during pregnancy—could help reduce depression rates among young people. This first-of-its-kind study highlights the need for targeted support for at-risk parents during pregnancy and postpartum, to improve long-term mental health outcomes for children. 🔗 Read the story in the New Zealand Herald on this paper https://lnkd.in/gN_defpT or the full research paper  https://lnkd.in/gNnTAaRY Francesca Pigatto, Cameron Grant, Emma Marks, Caroline Walker, Ben Fletcher, Karen Waldie #GrowingUpinNZ #longitudinalstudy #childandadolescentmentalhealth

Acting Public Service Commissioner Heather Baggott (she/her) has today announced the appointment of Andrew Coster to the position of Secretary for Social Investment and Chief Executive, Social Investment Agency. The Secretary for Social Investment is the government’s lead advisor for delivering social investment. The Secretary is responsible for embedding the government’s social investment approach, driving change in the delivery of social services, influencing more effective expenditure and better outcomes for New Zealand’s most vulnerable. “I’m very pleased to appoint Mr Coster to this important central agency role,” Ms Baggott said. “He is a highly respected and impressive public service leader who has considerable experience delivering initiatives to address complex social issues.” Mr Coster is currently the Commissioner of Police. Read the full media release here: https://lnkd.in/gauSY8ar