1307.6 - Tasmanian State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2009
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/01/2010
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FAMILY COMPOSITION In 2006, there were 128,660 families recorded in Tasmania. Of these, couple families with no children accounted for 40.5%, couple families with children represented 41.4% and one parent families made up 16.7%. Most families with children, regardless of being couple families or one parent families, had children aged under 15 years. Other children in families were classified as non-dependent children (not full-time students and aged 15-24 years) or dependent students (full-time students and aged 15-24 years). MARRIAGES AND DIVORCES The number of registered marriages in Tasmania has remained relatively steady over the last five years, with the crude marriage rate varying little (from 5.4% to 5.7%). Median age at marriage increased slightly from 31.8 years for males in 2003 to 32.6 years in 2007 and 29.7 years for females in 2003 to 30.0 years in 2007. Marriages involving cohabitation prior to marriage increased from 82.8% in 2003 to 85.0% in 2007. In 2007, over half of all divorces involved children. The crude divorce rate decreased slightly over the last five years, from 2.8% in 2003 to 2.3% in 2007. In 2007, the median duration of marriage prior to divorce was 13.8 years.
SOCIAL MARITAL STATUS In 2006, 49.9% of all Tasmanians aged 15 years and over were in a registered marriage. This compared to 52.0% in 2001 and 55.2% in 1996. In 2006, 35,700 persons or 10.4% of all Tasmanians aged 15 years and over were in a de facto marriage, compared to 22,400 or 6.8% of all Tasmanian aged 15 years and over in 1996. This represented an increase of 59.0% in persons in de facto marriages over the ten year period 1996-2006. In 2006, the percentage of persons aged 15 years and over in Tasmania who were not married remained relatively steady, increasing only slightly to 39.6%, from 39.4% in 2001 and 38.0% in 1996.
CONTACT ARRANGEMENTS In 2003, of children aged 0-17 years with a natural parent living elsewhere, 28.2% had face to face contact at least once a week, 17.5% had face to face contact less than once a week but at least once a fortnight, and 15.8% had face to face contact less than once a fortnight but at least once every 1-3 months. Almost a quarter (23.3%) of all children aged 0-17 years with a natural parent living elsewhere had face to face contact less than once a year or never. Nearly half (49.4%) of all children with a natural parent living elsewhere never stay overnight with the parent living elsewhere.
LABOUR FORCE STATUS OF PARENTS In 2006, more than half (58.4%) of all dependent children in couple families had both parents employed. The likelihood of both parents being employed increased with the age of the children. At the same time, 32.1% of dependent children in couple families had only one parent employed, with the likelihood decreasing with the age of the children. Of one parent families with dependent children, 49.9% of children had an employed parent, with the likelihood generally increasing with the age of the children. Of children living in couple families with children, only 8.3% had neither parent employed, compared to 48.3% of children in one parent families. The likelihood of the parent in a one parent family with dependent children not being employed decreased markedly with the age of the children, from 70.3% for dependent children aged 0-4 years to 25.0% of dependent children aged 18-20 years, then increased again slightly to 29.3% for dependent children aged 21-24 years.
In 2005, 40.6% of children aged 0-12 years used child care; 11.2% used formal care only, 22.3% used informal care only and 7.1% used both formal and informal care. Long day care centre was the most commonly used form of formal child care (9.1%) followed by family day care centre (4.6%) and before and/or after school care (2.9%). Grandparents provided a significant proportion of informal child care (19.8%).
CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN CULTURAL AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES In 2006, almost one third of Tasmanian children aged 5-14 years participated in cultural activities. Females were more likely to participate in cultural activities (46.9%) compared to males (18.4%). More than half (59.2%) of all children aged 5-14 years participated in sport. Of those participating in sport, 17.5% of Tasmanian children played soccer (outdoor), followed by swimming (14.6%), and Australian Rules Football (10.0%). Leisure pursuits were dominated by watching TV, videos or DVDs (95.4%), reading for pleasure (78.8%) and bike riding (72.5%). Most children used a computer (94.1%), with 61.2% of all children having accessed the Internet. Females were more likely to undertake art and craft (65.6% compared to males 42.1%), visiting a public library (54.4% compared to males 45.1%), and reading for pleasure (83.1% compared to males 74.8%). Males were more likely to play electronic or computer games (81.6% compared to females 49.1%), bike riding (77.4% compared to females 67.2%), and skateboarding or rollerblading (25.5% compared to females 16.3%).
In the week prior to the General Social Survey 2006, 84.0% of all persons in Tasmania aged 18 years and over had face to face contact with family or friends living outside the household. Face to face contact decreased with age, from 90.6% of persons aged 18-24 years to 77.4% of persons aged 75 years and over. The only exception was for the 65-74 year age group where 88.0% of persons indicated that they had had face to face contact in the previous week. Other forms of contact with family and friends living outside the household were measured over a three month period. From March to July 2006, 91.0% of the Tasmanian population aged 18 years and over used a fixed telephone to contact family or friends living outside the household. This was followed by mobile phone/SMS (70.4%), Internet such as email or chat rooms (37.0%), and mail (including cards) or fax (26.4%). The majority of persons aged 18 years and over attended at least one cultural and leisure venue or event in the last 12 months (86.9%). The most visited venues or events were cinemas (58.8%), libraries (43.4%), botanic gardens (37.2%) and museums (37.0%). Females were more likely to attend a cultural and leisure venue or event, while males were more likely to attend or participate in a sporting event or recreational physical activity.
VOLUNTARY WORK According to the 2006 General Social Survey, 36.0% of Tasmanians aged 18 years and over undertook voluntary work in the 12 months prior to July 2006. Most volunteers were engaged in fundraising/sales (19.4%) followed by preparing/serving food (13.1%). This trend was reflected in persons aged 25-34 years, 45-54 years and 55-65 years. Persons aged 18-24 years were primarily engaged in teaching/instruction/providing information (15.0%) followed by fundraising/sales (14.8%). The majority of persons aged 35-44 years were engaged in fundraising/sales (20.5%) followed by teaching/instruction/providing information (17.2%) while those aged 65 years and over were engaged in fundraising/sales (19.6%) followed by administration/clerical/recruitment/information management (12.7%).
TYPE OF INTERNET CONNECTION On Census night 2006, more than a quarter of Tasmanian dwellings (excluding not stated) had broadband internet access (28.6%), closely followed by dial-up connection (25.7%). Of all occupied private Tasmanian dwellings, 45.1% had no Internet connection. Greater Hobart Statistical Division (SD) had the highest proportion of broadband connection (33.2%), compared to dial-up (24.1%). Northern SD reported 28.4% of dwellings with broadband and 25.1% with dial-up. Mersey-Lyell SD reported 24.2% with broadband and 26.7% with dial-up, and Southern SD reported 15.7% with broadband and 34.2% with dial-up. Southern SD had the highest proportion of dwellings with no Internet connection (49.6%), followed by Mersey-Lyell SD (48.5%) and Northern SD (45.9%). Greater Hobart SD had the lowest (41.9%).
SOURCES 2006 Census of Population and Housing (ABS Community Profiles) Australian Historical Population Statistics (ABS cat no. 3105.0.65.001) Census Fact Sheet on Measures of Unpaid Work (ABS cat. no. 2914.0) Childhood Education and Care, Australia (ABS cat. no. 4402.0) Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia (ABS cat. no. 4901.0) Divorces, Australia (ABS cat. no. 3307.0.55.001) Family Characteristics and Transitions, Australia (ABS cat. no. 4442.0) General Social Survey, Tasmania (ABS cat. no. 4159.6.55.001) Marriages, Australia (ABS cat. no. 3306.0.55.001) Further information can also be found on the Family and Community Statistics Theme Page of the ABS website. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
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