Child and family policy

Contents | Introduction | Why have a child and family policy? | Children and families in Auckland city | Getting your views | Guiding documents | Auckland City's role | Making things happen | Work progressed during 2005/06 | Child and family action plan 2006/07 | Appendix: Other relevant Auckland City policies

Children and families in Auckland city

Auckland city covers a land area of 63,174ha and includes the CBD, suburbs and islands in the Hauraki Gulf. In 2004, an estimated 420,700 were living in Auckland city – the largest population of any local authority in the country.

Citywide age and family characteristics

Auckland city's population is relatively young, with a median age of 33.3 years at the 2001 Census (compared to 34.8 years nationally). The city continues to have fewer people in the under-15 and over-65 age groups and more people in the 15-to-24 and 25-to-44 age groups compared with the rest of New Zealand.

At the time of the 2001 Census there were 87,216 families in the city. These can be divided into three types: couples with child(ren), couples without children and one parent with child(ren) (shown in figure 1). A family with children was the most popular family type in 2001.

Figure 1: Family types in Auckland city (2001)

Given Auckland's popularity with migrants and job seekers and the relatively young median age of its residents, we expect population growth in the city to continue. Figure 2 shows projected citywide age projections to 2021 (using 2001 medium projections).

Figure 2: Age group population projects for Auckland city

Reviewed August 2006