MEDIA RELEASE
4 December 2017	Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	159/2017

The number of couple families with children that have both parents working has increased in the last decade, according to statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Chief Economist for the ABS, Bruce Hockman said that in June 2017 some 64 per cent of couple families with children had both parents working, while a decade ago the proportion was 59 per cent.

“The increasing proportion of couple families with children where both parents work is an ongoing trend we have been observing for a decade, as female participation rates in the labour market have increased to the current record high of around 60 per cent,” Mr Hockman said.

“In June 2017, 25 per cent of couple families with children had both parents working full time, which increased from 21 per cent a decade ago."

“Couple families with children with one parent employed full time and the other part time were still the most common group, at 35 per cent in June 2017."

The proportion of jobless families (couple and lone parents) with children remained steady over the past decade at 12 per cent, as did the proportion of couple families with children, at around 5 per cent.

Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families publication uses data from the ABS Labour Force Survey to determine family relationships and the labour force status of the 6.8 million families living in Australia.

For more information, please refer to Labour Force, Australia: Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families (cat. no. 6224.0.55.001), available for free download from the ABS website: https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media notes:

• Families with children are those which include one or more children under the age of 15.
• Jobless families include couple and lone parent families with children where the resident parent(s) and all dependants aged 15-24 years are not employed.
• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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