Teens want more time with parents -study

Lauren Muldrew spends time with her mum after school when Robyn finishes work as the principal's assistant. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

It may be uncool to admit it, but more than half of New Zealand teenagers want to spend more time with their parents.

Details of a survey of almost 10,000 students at 96 secondary schools, published to mark the start of Youth Week today, show that 54 per cent of students "sometimes" or "hardly ever" get enough time with their mothers.

And 61 per cent, sometimes or hardly ever get enough time with their dads.

Auckland University researcher Simon Denny, who led the project, said the results shattered the myth that teenagers hate their parents.

"This is big stuff, much bigger than it sounds," he said.

"Having a close relationship with a parent is one of the most important predictors of good health and wellbeing for young people."

The survey found that only 73 per cent of students in 2007 lived in their main home with two "parents", including step-parents.

A further 22 per cent lived with one parent, 3 per cent with grandparents or other relatives and 2 per cent in foster care or independent flats.

Twenty-nine per cent of students said they lived in more than one home, usually spending part of the time with each parent.

Ninety per cent lived with their mothers in their main homes, 76 per cent with their fathers and 8 per cent also with a parent's partner or step-parent.

The majority of students reported happy family lives.

Asked "How do your family members get along?" 81 per cent said well or very well.

Asked about their own relationships with their families, 71 per cent said they were "happy about how we get on" - up from the 59 per cent in a previous survey in 2001.

Ninety per cent said at least one parent cared about them a lot, barely changed from 92.5 per cent in 2001.

But the proportion saying they got enough time with at least one parent "most of the time" fell from 62 per cent to 56.5 per cent.

Among the others, 62 per cent said they did not get enough time with their mothers because they were at work, and 72 per cent gave the same answer for their fathers.

"What we see is that from 2001 to 2007 was a period of relative economic good times when both the parents might be working more," Dr Denny said.

"That means there is more money in the family, so overall the family relationships are good.