In 2016, to better understand the co-occurrence of poor wellbeing outcomes and their effects on
New Zealand families, Superu began a multi-year research programme on multiple disadvantage.

The primary aim of that work was to develop a way to measure multiple disadvantage and use it
to explore:
• the prevalence of multiple disadvantage across New Zealand families,
• the types and combinations of disadvantage most commonly experienced, and
• the disadvantages with the greatest impact on family wellbeing.

Following Superu’s disestablishment in 2018, this research was transferred to MSD as part of the Families and Whānau Wellbeing Research programme. This paper builds on significant
foundational work published in the 2017 and 2018 Families and Whānau Status Report (Superu,
2017a; Superu 2018; see also Superu, 2017b).
While some of the key highlights of that work is presented below, the authors urge any reader coming to this work for the first time to consult these previous publications for a fulsome discussion of the multiple disadvantage measure and the initial findings. (From the introduction). Record #6650