About the Families Project

The Families Project serves as an umbrella under which a number of studies of families (both cross-sectional and longitudinal) were undertaken. Specifically, the related studies of families included:

  1. The General Population of Parents Survey (2006)
  2. The General Population of Parents Survey (2009)
  3. Family Pathways: Looking Back
  4. Family Pathways: The Longitudinal Study of Separated Families
  5. Family Pathways: The Adolescent Study
  6. Family Pathways: The Grandparents Study

This series of individual studies included surveys of parents in general and of parents who have experienced separation. Other components focused on young people in separated families, and grandparents with a grandchild living in a separated family. Together, this suite of studies sought to understand how changes to the family law system and changes to the child support scheme affect the lives of separated parents and their children.

The General Population of Parents Surveys

Two nationally representative telephone surveys of the general population of parents were undertaken. The first General Population of Parents Survey was conducted in mid-2006 (GPPS 2006) as part of a suite of studies that tapped issues of relevance to the reforms. This pre-reform study was designed to provide baseline data against which post-reform data can be compared. A second GPPS was conducted in early 2009. Among other issues, the surveys examined parents’ views about the quality of their relationship with their partner, help-seeking behaviour and grandparents’ involvement with their children.

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