Father figures

Embargoed until 10:45am – 31 August 2007

Father figures

To acknowledge the positive role of fathers, Statistics New Zealand offers the following facts about fathers for Father's Day on Sunday 2 September 2007:

• A baby will be a Father's Day present for an estimated 160 men this year.

• Of these 160 men, two can expect to be the father of twins.

• The average age of fathers of new babies is 33 years, but one in 100 babies has a father aged 50 years or over.

• Today's newborn babies have fathers who are, on average, five years older than their own fathers were when they were born.

• Fathers with children aged under a year old manage 42 minutes less sleep than the average of 8.5 hours.

• Over a lifetime, fathers have seven fewer Father’s Days, on average, than mothers have Mother’s Days. This is because men generally start parenting later in life and women have a longer life span.

• More than a quarter (27 percent) of babies born in New Zealand last year were to fathers who were not themselves born in New Zealand. This compares with 22 percent a decade ago.

At the time of the 2006 Census:

• around 14 percent of fathers were of Māori descent

• approximately 19 percent of fathers had a tertiary qualification of a bachelor’s degree or higher

• approximately 13 percent of fathers worked from home or didn’t go to work on census day.

Data sources: birth registrations, New Zealand life tables, Time Use Survey, 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings.

Cathryn Ashley-Jones
Acting Government Statistician
31 August 2007

ENDS

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