Monitoring Poverty, Hardship and Community Well-Being in Christchurch

 

The Christchurch City Council is currently undertaking social monitoring aimed at measuring levels of poverty, hardship and community well being in Christchurch. The intention of the Social Monitoring Programme is to provide the Council with data that will enable it to assess the impact of central and local government polices on Christchurch residents and to look at the implications of policy changes with regard to citizens and organisations working in this environment.

 

The following areas are being examined for indicators of community well being, poverty and hardship in Christchurch: health, housing, food issues, social welfare issues and employment.

 

Indicators from each area will be taken in turn looking specifically at trends in and implications of local and central government policy on the following target groups: women, children, youth, elderly, immigrants (especially refugees), physically disabled, people with mental health disabilities, Maori, Pacific Islands people, low income earners and beneficiaries.

 

This pilot phase of the research is expected to last approximately ten months, finishing in April 1997. The study involves Christchurch citizens and professional staff from community agencies, schools, government departments and other specialist areas.

The study involves a combination of research methods:

• During July and August 1996 community agencies were given a Target Week in which they filled out community well being forms for each client they saw in that week. These questionnaires collected social and demographic information about community agency clients in the City and general information about health, housing, food, welfare and employment. We received over 1200 responses to this questionnaire, with representation from throughout the City. This data is currently being analysed and interim results will be released in the new year. Where appropriate, data will be available at census area unit and ward level.

• Data was gathered from government representatives and those working in specialist areas in the community through a detailed well being questionnaire administered in August and September 1996. This examined issues ranging from respondents’ perceptions of policies contributing to and alleviating poverty, to the major issues impacting on our target groups and gaps in social service provision in the City. Forty seven questionnaires were returned, many completed by teams of staff, including front line personnel, analysts and managers within the contributing organisations. The data gathered in this phase of the research is largely qualitative in nature and will take some time to analyse. This information is expected to be available in April 1997.

• Staff and Board of Trustee members from Christchurch schools in the lower socio-economic areas of the city also filled in well being questionnaires which covered similar issues to the government/specialist questionnaire, but with a focus on the local school environment. Twenty seven questionnaires were returned. This information is expected to be available in April 1997.

• Staff from 29 community agencies in the City are currently taking part in focus group interviews which will explore people’s insights into poverty and well being in Christchurch and the major policy issues impacting on residents. Data from these interviews will also be available in April 1997.

• Perhaps one of the largest and most detailed parts of the study involves in-depth interviews with 300 Christchurch individuals and families about well being issues and the impacts of these on their lives. Participants have been sourced through Christchurch schools and community agencies. The interview schedule is currently being developed and distributed for consultation and will be pilot tested shortly. The interviews will last approximately one hour each and will probably take place in late November and early December 1996. Data from these interviews will be available in April 1997.

• The possibility of conducting small focus group sessions with children and young people about their views on well being issues in the city and solutions to problems is currently being explored.

• A large database has also been developed of local, national and international poverty research which will place our study within a larger context. This database is key word searchable and also includes information on social policy issues within New Zealand.

 

Once the data is gathered, a small working groups will be established comprising representatives from the Council, community organisations, government departments, schools and other specialist and interest areas. When research data becomes available, working groups will meet to discuss particular issues, examine policy implications and will have a part in the dialogue which will form the recommendations to come out of the research. State of the City reports and smaller, specialised reports will be produced as the research progresses.

 

A home page on the internet is available, which currently provides programme overviews and which will eventually contain questionnaires, data sets in SPSS and Filemaker Pro 3 as well as research reports and findings. This can be accessed as follows: http://www.ccc.govt.nz/SocialMonitoring/.

 

The pilot research will provide a comprehensive baseline of well being data which will give a picture of poverty in Christchurch, its causes, an assessment of which groups are currently in poverty in Christchurch as well as strategies for dealing with it. The model will also be used in the development of a long term monitoring programme focusing on key indicators of community well being in Christchurch.

 

If you require further information about the Christchurch City Council’s Social Monitoring Programme, please feel free to contact the coordinator, Kath Jamieson, Community Adviser - Research, at the Christchurch City Council, PO Box 237, Christchurch, phone 371 1885, fax 941 8267 or E-mail Jamiesonk@ccc.govt.nz.

 

 

Residents Groups

There are currently 76 residents groups in the City. The aim of these groups is to promote the interests of people within their immediate community. Around 25 percent of residents who participated in the 1996 Annual Survey of Residents knew of a residents group or groups within the City. Twenty eight percent of residents who knew of a residents group had either contacted a residents group or had attended a meeting or function organised by a group. This was a slight decline of 3 percent during the year.

 

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