Growing Up in New Zealand: An Investment in Effective Policy

New Zealand spends billions every year in payments and programmes for children and families, largely built upon valuable research conducted in 1970s’ Christchurch and Dunedin or in overseas populations.  However, New Zealand needs contemporary information about its children and families, so that wise policy investment relevant to our population continues.

Growing Up in New Zealand is a new longitudinal study expressly created to give policymakers relevant information about New Zealand families.  It also functions as a measurement tool for the effectiveness of current and future policies.  Growing Up in New Zealand expects to provide a clear return on its research investment by making policy spending more effective in its targets and reach.

Dr Susan Morton PhD, DipPHTM, BSc(Hons), MBChB, DipTchg, FAFPHM, Senior Lecturer

Susan leads a multi-disciplinary team of researchers as the Director of Growing Up in New Zealand, a new longitudinal study of New Zealand children and their families which is designed to provide robust evidence to inform policy across sectors about child development in 21st century New Zealand.

Susan Morton is an epidemiologist and specialist in Public Health Medicine with a general interest in lifecourse epidemiology, particularly as it pertains to reproductive outcomes (of offspring and mothers), growth throughout the lifecourse and women's adult health.  She currently has a shared academic position with the Liggins Institute and The University of Auckland’s School of Population Health.  Her time is divided between teaching epidemiology to medical students, epidemiological research and providing epidemiological consultation on several women's health issues including breast cancer and population screening.  She will lead a new longitudinal study "Growing up in New Zealand" that will follow the lives of 7,600 children born in Auckland and Waikato during 2009