Source: University of Auckland (UoA)
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Researchers are investigating how children are affected when a parent or caregiver is imprisoned, and how their rights and needs can be better understood and supported.
A new study is investigating what happens to tamariki and rangatahi before and after a parent or primary caregiver is sent to prison, and whether their rights and interests are adequately considered when courts make bail and sentencing decisions.
Previous research highlights a stark difference between what happens when mothers and fathers are imprisoned: when fathers are imprisoned, 79 percent of children continue living with their mothers and their living arrangements don’t change.
When mothers are imprisoned, most children’s care arrangements change, with only 21 percent remaining with their fathers.
Funded by the Borrin Foundation, the project brings together University of Auckland academics Professor Julia Tolmie (Auckland Law School), School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies’ Professor Tracey McIntosh (Ngāi Tūhoe) and Professor Barry Milne (Arts and Education) with Auckland University of Technology’s Dean of Law Professor Khylee Quince (Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa, Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu).
The research began in response to a request from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who saw a need for a New Zealand-based study into the sentencing of parents who are primary or sole caregivers, the impact on children, and gaps in the criminal justice response to female offending and offending that might result in imprisonment.
Women in prison are almost three times more likely than men to have dependent children and more than twice as likely to be single parents.
“If a child’s parent goes to prison it may mean that the person who’s most invested in them loses all capacity to care for them or to monitor the quality of their care and their well-being for a period of time,” says Tolmie, a criminal law and policy expert.
McIntosh, a sociologist and criminologist, says the intergenerational reach of incarcerating woman is significant, because the impact on children is so immediate.
“An arrest, subsequent conviction and sentence to prison increases the risk of children being put into care. For too many incarcerated wāhine, state care has been a part of their own histories. Their awareness of the dangers of state care means that the pains of imprisonment are increased by the recognition of the potential harm that their children may encounter.”
Quince says Māori children are more likely to be raised in single-parent households, most often headed by mothers, while 67 percent of women currently in prison are Māori.
“This means wāhine Māori continue to parent and manage whānau while behind the wire, often without the knowledge of important institutions in the lives of their tamariki, such as schools. The research will explore the impacts that dynamic has on both māmā and tamariki.”
Through interviews, population data and work with community groups and NGOs, the researchers will build a clearer and current picture of who is being imprisoned while caring for dependent children and the lived experiences of those children.
The study will examine how many children have parents who are facing imprisonment, their demographics, the offences for which their parents are convicted, what care arrangements are made for these children and how New Zealand judges currently approach these cases.
Milne, who directs the University of Auckland’s Centre of Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences (COMPASS), will work with senior research fellow Dr Lisa Underwood to analyse population data, including the offences parents are imprisoned for such as drug use or property offending, and the proportion serving short sentences.
The academics will also examine what happens in children’s lives before and after a caregiver is imprisoned, including changes in school attendance, where they live and health outcomes.
The study will look at approaches used overseas and initiatives already operating in New Zealand that could inform different ways of sentencing parents and caregivers.
Based on their findings, the researchers plan to develop recommendations for law reform and improved judicial practices. They also hope the project will increase public understanding and encourage more informed discussion about the impact of parental imprisonment on children and young people.