Family Facts and Figures
Family Facts and Figures provides broad trends in Australian families. These trends are primarily based on statistics published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), though data from major Australian surveys are also used.
Some basic facts
- As at June 2010, there were 22.3 million residents in Australia (See the Population Clock by the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] for current estimate of the resident population of Australia).
- Children aged 0–14 years make up 18.9% of the population while people aged 65 years and older account for 13.6% of the population. That is, two-thirds of the population are 15–64 years old (67.5%)—the group that is traditionally treated as being of “working age”.1
- Australia’s population is culturally and ethnically diverse.
- Around one-quarter of the population was born overseas and many residents who were born in Australia have a parent who was born in another country.
- Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders represent 2.3% of the population.
- In 2006–07, there were about 8.1 million households and 5.9 million families.
- Around one in four households is occupied by one person. For statistical purposes, the ABS defines families as: Two or more persons, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering; and who are usually resident in the same household. That is, members of families who live in different households are not treated as part of the same family unit.
- Around one-half of the population aged 15 years and older is married.
- The median age at first marriage is 29.6 years for men and 27.7 years for women.
- Over the last decade, around 12 to 13 couples in every 1000 marriages are granted a divorce each year.
- Women who become mothers do so typically at age 25 to 34 years. In 2008, the median age of women who gave birth to their first child was 28 years.
Browse through the following topics for more information on Australian families
- Australian Families
- Family type 2006
- Family type 2001
- Family type 1976-2006
- Families with children 0-17 years, 2003
- Family projection 2001-2026
- Assessment of current housing situation (2001)
- Related article: Family size: men's and women's aspirations over the years (PDF 298 KB) – Family Matters no. 69 2004
- Related article: Snapshot of couple families with stepparent-child relationships (PDF 141 KB) – Family Matters no. 70 2005
- Related article: A snapshot of how Australian Families spend their time
- Related article: A woman's place? Work hour preferences revisited (PDF 1 MB) – Family Matters no. 72 2005
- Australian Households
- Births
- Child Care
- Utilisation
- Children aged 0-4 years: Proportion using formal or informal care, 1987-2005
- Children aged 5-11 years: Proportion using formal or informal care, 1987-2005
- Children aged 0-11 years who used formal care only: Weekly hours of care, 1987-2005
- Children aged 0-11 years who used informal care only: Weekly hours of care, 1987-2005
- Children aged 0-11 years who used formal or informal care: Weekly hours of care, 1987-2005
- Children aged 0-12 years: Proportions using formal or informal care by family type, 2005
- Types of non-parental care used by school-aged children when parents were working during school holidays, 2001
- Children aged 0-11 years: proportion using formal or informal care by family type, 2002
- Proportion of children in different types of child care services who have additional needs, 2002
- Cost of child care & selected characteristics of staff (or caregivers)
- Unmet needs
- Unmet formal care need of children aged 0-4 years who were using or not using formal care, 1993-2002
- Unmet formal care need of children aged 5-11 years who were using or not using formal care, 1993-2002
- Families with pre-school children who used or considered using child care to undertake paid work: proportion indicating some difficulty in the following child care areas in the last 12 months, 2001
- Use of childare and main reason for not using childcare by children's age, 2004 and 2006
- Utilisation
- Cohabitation
- Percentage of marriages preceded by cohabitation 1975-2008
- Cohabiting couples as percentage of all couples, 1986-2006
- Proportion of people aged 15 or over who were married or cohabiting, 1981-2001
- Partnered men: percentage of men who were cohabiting by age, 1996 and 2006
- Partnered women: percentage of women who were cohabiting by age, 1996 and 2006
- Cohabiting men and women: expectations to marry current partner by gender
- Male partners: satisfaction with relationship with their partner by marital status
- Female partners: satisfaction with relationship with their partner by marital status
- Percentage of cohabiting couples who married or separated within five years of living together
- Percentage disapproving of a man and woman living together without planning marriage by age, 1995
- Related article: Trends in couple formation (Family Relationships Quarterly No. 1, 2006)
- Related article: Trends in couple dissolution (Family Relationships Quarterly No. 2, 2006)
- Related article: An update on partnership formation trends: What does the 2006 Census suggest? (Family Relationships Quarterly No. 6, 2007)
- Divorce
- Marriage
- Number of marriages registered and crude marriage rate, 1901-2008
- Age specific first marriage rates - men
- Age specific first marriage rates - women
- Median age at first marriage 1966-2008
- Percentage of marriages preceded by cohabitation 1975-2008
- Category of marriage celebrants, 1908-2008
- Related article: Getting married: Trends in choice of celebrant (Family Relationships Quarterly No. 3, 2007)
- Related article: Relationships Indicators Survey 2006 (Family Relationships Quarterly No. 4, 2007)
- Parent Child Contact after Separation
- Face-to-face contact between children and their nonresident parents
Face-to-face contact between children and their non-resident parents is an important part of parenting after separation. Research suggests that there is a discrepancy in reporting between resident parents and non-resident parents in terms of the level of parent-child contact. This series mainly uses the Family Characteristics Survey which was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 2009-10. The ABS survey collected information about parent-child contact from resident parents only, while the Institute survey asked parent-child contact questions to independent groups of resident parents and nonresident parents.
- Overnight stays (Occurrence of overnight stays with nonresident parent living elsewhere)
It is important to distinguish between day-time only contact and overnight stays because the latter provides greater opportunities for family activities to occur, which encourages emotional bonds to develop between children and their nonresident parents. (See paper by Patrick Parkinson and Bruce Smyth presented at the AIFS 2003 conference (PDF 696 KB)).
Of all children aged under 18 who had a parent living elsewhere, 50 per cent not only had face-to-face contact but also stayed overnight with their nonresident parent according to the Family Characteristics Survey (ABS 2003), while the remaining 50 per cent either had face-to-face contact only or rarely saw their nonresident parent. The percentage of overnight stays was higher (68%) based on reporting by parents participating in Caring For Children After Separation Project (AIFS 2003).
Of those who had face-to-face contact with their non-resident parent, most stayed some nights (68% based on ABS Family Characteristics Survey and 79% based on AIFS Caring For Children After Parental Separation).
- Patterns of care arrangements after separation
- Face-to-face contact between children and their nonresident parents
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2010). Australianf demographic statistics, June Quarter 2010 (Catalogue no. 3101.0). Canberra: ABS.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2010). Marriages and divorces, Australia, 2009 (Catalogue no. 3310.0).
Laws, P. J., Li, Z., & Sullivan, E. A. (2010). Australia’s mothers and babies 2008 (Perinatal Statistics Series No. 24.). Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Footnote
1. In estimates of the so-called “age-dependency ratio” (i.e., the ratio of those of a typically non-working age to those of a typically working age), those aged 15–64 years are traditionally seen as the “working age” population, whereas the older and younger groups are traditionally treated as dependants.