A leading researcher says New Zealand's official data systems fail to track the realities of co-parenting and shared care arrangements. Often unseen because they are not counted in the Census, these shared care arrangements are happening in one-in-five households, according to Motu Research's senior fellow Kate Prickett. Parents getting less informal support from the other parent for things like clothing, food and transport among others had higher rates of anxiety and depression. Kate Prickett says the research shows families with shared care exist in a middle ground between the sole parents, and the two parent home. And policy frameworks are often not flexible to their complexity.

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