Living the Tokelauan Way in New Zealand

Tokelauan people are proportionally one of the smallest Pacific groups in New Zealand and also one of the most socio-economically deprived.

The Tokelauan community has a higher proportion of three-generation families living in one household than any other ethnic group in New Zealand, and consequently a high level of household crowding.

Household crowding raises the risk of close-contact infectious diseases, such as skin diseases, rheumatic fever, tuberculosis and meningococcal disease, which occur at a higher rate in the Pacific community. (Baker, McNicholas et al 2000)

The aims of the study were to understand how Tokelauan youth feel about living in extended-family households, and to describe their experiences of extended-family living and their understanding of its impact on their health and wellbeing.

This research was funded by the Families Commission's Pacific Families Now and in the Future project. It was produced by Gina Pene, Philippa Howden-Chapman, Marisa Peita, Helen Viggers and John Gray.