Health insurance coverage amongst families with school aged children

The level of private medical insurance coverage was studied in a sample of 1106 seven year old children and their families who were participants in the Christchurch Child Development Study. In the last seven years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of families who were covered by private medical insurance: in 1977 an estimated 18% of families had coverage and by 1984, this figure had risen to 43%. Levels of coverage were correlated with a large number of factors associated with family social background including single parenthood, low income, poor parental education, Polynesian ethnicity, depressed living standards, family size and parental age. However, multivariate analysis suggested that the primary determinants of insurance coverage were family earning power and family structure. The social implications of these findings are discussed.