6224.0 - Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families, Australia, Jun 2000  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/11/2000   
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MEDIA RELEASE

November 21, 2000
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
159/2000

Australian families and the labour force - ABS

Just over three-quarters (77 per cent) of Australian families had at least one family member (aged 15 years and over) employed in June 2000, while 8.0 per cent of families had at least one family member unemployed, according to results of a survey published today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

A family was defined for the purposes of this survey as two or more related people who usually reside in the same household.

Couple families made up 83 per cent of all families, while one-parent families made up 15 per cent. Almost half (47 per cent) of couple families had dependants (children under 15 years of age and/or 15-24 year old full-time students). Just under three-quarters (71 per cent) of one-parent families had dependants present.

Findings for couple families with dependants show:
  • In 93 per cent of families one or both partners were employed, the same as ten years ago;
  • In 61 per cent of families the female parent was employed;
  • The proportion of families which had one or both parents unemployed remained the same as June 1999 at 6.5 per cent; and,
  • There were 265,700 children aged 0-14 in families where neither parent was employed.

For one-parent families with dependants, findings show:
  • Most (86 per cent) families had a female parent;
  • The parent was employed in just over half (51 per cent) of one-parent families with dependants and unemployed in 7.5 per cent, down from 8.8 per cent last year;
  • Employment increased with the age of the youngest dependant. Where the youngest dependant was aged 0-4, 30 per cent of sole parents were employed, compared with 70 per cent for those whose youngest dependant was aged 15-24; and,
  • There were 411,100 children aged 0-14 in one-parent families where the parent was not employed, a drop of 9 per cent from the previous year.

There were over 5 million families, comprising approximately 12 million people aged 15 years and over, in June 2000. A further 2.5 million people aged 15 years and over were not living with family members, of whom 66 per cent were living alone. Over half of those who lived alone were female with two-thirds of those aged 55 and over. Some 52 per cent of people who lived alone were not in the labour force.

More details are in Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families, Australia, June 1999 (cat. no. 6224.0) available from ABS bookshops. The summary of the publication is available on this site. If you wish to purchase a copy of this publication, contact the ABS Bookshop in your capital city.