Microdata available on this expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) were compiled from the Family Characteristics and Family Transitions and History topics in the Multi-Purpose Household Survey (MPHS), which was conducted as a supplement to the ABS Monthly Population Survey (MPS), from July 2006 to June 2007.
The Family Characteristics topic collected information on household and family composition including demographic, labour force, and family types. A particular focus is families with children aged 017 years. The additional information collected for families with children included information about family structure, the social marital status of the parents, and contact arrangements for children with non-resident parents. Comparison with data obtained from the 1997 and 2003 Family Characteristics surveys helps to show how the number and proportions of various family types have changed over the last decade. The Family Transitions and History topic collected information for persons aged 18 years and over about the family transitions they have experienced in their lives, such as the death or divorce of their parents, their experiences of leaving the family home, the forming of marital relationships, children born and their expectations of having children in the future.
Steps to confidentialise the dataset are taken to ensure integrity of data, optimise its content and maintain confidentiality of respondents. They include removing any information that might uniquely identify an individual, reducing the level of detail for some items and collapsing some categories.
The expanded CURF is only available through the Remote Access Data Laboratory (RADL). A Technical Manual explaining data content, technical details and conditions of use is available on the ABS web site and via the 'Information by' link on the RADL home page. Users are able to tabulate, manipulate and analyse data to their individual specifications once they have approved access to the CURF.
For more information, see Access to ABS CURFs at www.abs.gov.au
Previously known as, 'Family Characteristics Survey, Australia, Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File'.
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