Housing tenure as a focus for reducing inequalities in the home safety environment: evidence from Growing Up in New Zealand

Sarah Berry; Polly Atatoa Carr; Bridget Kool; Jatender Mohal; Susan Morton; Cameron Grant

doi:10.1111/1753-6405.12695

Housing tenure as a focus for reducing inequalities in the home safety environment: evidence from Growing Up in New Zealand

Aust N Z J Public Health. 2017 Oct;41(5):530-534. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12695. Epub 2017 Jul 27.

Authors

Sarah Berry^{1

2}, Polly Atatoa Carr³, Bridget Kool⁴, Jatender Mohal^{1

2}, Susan Morton^{1

2}, Cameron Grant^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Longitudinal Research - He Ara ki Mua, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
² Growing Up in New Zealand, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
³ National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis, The University of Waikato, New Zealand.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
⁵ Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.

PMID: 28749605
DOI: 10.1111/1753-6405.12695

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether specific demographic characteristics are associated with the presence or absence of household safety strategies.

Methods: This study was conducted within Growing Up in New Zealand, a contemporary longitudinal study of New Zealand (NZ) children. Multivariable analyses were used to examine the maternal (self-prioritised ethnicity, education, age, self-reported health) and household (area-level deprivation, tenure, crowding, residential mobility, dwelling type) determinants of household safety strategies being present in the homes of young children.

Results: In comparison to family-owned homes, privately owned rental homes were less likely (OR=0.78; 95%CI 0.65-0.92), and government-owned rental homes were more likely (OR=1.74, 95%CI 1.25-2.41) to have eight or more household safety strategies present.

Conclusions: Living in a privately owned rental home in NZ exposes children to an environment where there are fewer household safety strategies in place. Implications for public health: Housing tenure provides a clear target focus for improving the household safety environment for NZ children.

Keywords: Growing Up in New Zealand; cohort study; household safety; housing tenure.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Child
Child, Preschool
Crowding
Female
Housing*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander / statistics & numerical data*
New Zealand
Ownership*
Poverty
Residence Characteristics
Social Class
Social Environment*
Socioeconomic Factors*
Wounds and Injuries / epidemiology*
Wounds and Injuries / etiology*