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Story: Population change

Baby boom generation, about 1969

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Baby boom generation, about 1969

The baby boom was a period of significantly increased and relatively high fertility which occurred in New Zealand between the mid-1940s and the early 1970s. The fertility rate was more than four births per woman at its peak in the 1960s, which was high internationally. The Faulknor children of Wainuiomata (known as 'Nappy Valley' at the time because of the number of families with young children) represent this population trend. Clockwise from bottom left, Sandra was born in 1961, Stephanie in 1965, Trevor in 1967 and Janine in 1963.

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Faulknor family

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How to cite this page

Ian Pool and Natalie Jackson, Population change – Pākehā fertility and mortality, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/28730/baby-boom-generation-about-1969 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ian Pool and Natalie Jackson, published 21 April 2011, reviewed and revised 23 August 2018 with assistance from Natalie Jackson.