As New Zealand ends the second decade of the 21st century, there are some interesting social and demographic trends that are changing the nature and structure of the family. Some of these are economic – the perceived and actual cost of children, the competition between earning an income and child birth/rearing, young adult debt and the cost of housing – while others are long term demographic trends – declining fertility, delayed first birth, fewer children. What is happening and why? Are our policies appropriate to what is happening in the 21st century?
Join us as we uncover what is happening to the changing face of the kiwi family and if our policies are appropriate and adapting to what is relevant to the 21st century.
Distinguished Professor Spoonley is one of New Zealand's leading academics and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
He joined the Massey staff in 1979 and became Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2013. He has led numerous externally funded research programmes, including the Ministry of Science and Innovation’s “Integration of Immigrants Programme”, “Nga Tangata Oho Mairangi” and now “Capturing the Diversity Dividend of Aotearoa New Zealand” ($5.5 million, 2014-2020).
He has written or edited 27 books, one of which is the biography of Ranginui Walker (Mata Toa)
He is a regular commentator in the news media.
In 2010, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of California Berkeley and in 2013, a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Goettingen.
He was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand Science and Technology medal in 2009 in recognition of his contribution to cultural understanding and in 2011, he was acknowledged by the award of the Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand’s scholarship for exceptional service. He was made a Fellow of the Auckland War Memorial Museum in 2015. In 2018, he was elected Chair of Metropolis International, an international network of immigration researchers and policy analysts. He is a member of the Marsden Fund Council as Chair of the Social Science Panel and the Chair of the Social Science and Other Cultural Studies Panel for the 2018 PBRF round.
5.30pm - 8.00pm
19 June
Venue: Intercontinental Hotel, Grey Street, Wellington
28 June
Venue: Sir Geoffrey Peren Auditorium, Manawatū Campus, Massey University
29 June
Venue: Art Deco Masonic Hotel, Corner of Tennyson Street and Marine Parade, Napier
5 July
Venue: Copthorne Hotel Grand Central, 42 Powderham Street, New Plymouth
21 August
Venue: The Grand Mecure, 8 Customs Street East, Auckland