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De facto couple families - of all couple families(a)
%
2001
11.5
11.1
14.0
12.4
14.3
14.3
23.2
14.3
12.4
8
Couple-only families - of all couple families
%
2002
52.8
53.8
54.6
58.8
53.8
55.7
47.4
49.1
53.9
9
Couple-only families with female partner aged under 40 - of all couple only families
%
2002
23.1
22.8
23.5
20.4
25.0
16.3
38.8
28.6
23.1
10
Couple families with children aged under 15 - of all families with children aged under 15
%
2002
77.8
78.6
74.4
75.8
76.7
75.0
77.3
80.3
77.0
11
Lone-father families with children aged under 15 - of all families with children aged under 15
%
2002
2.3
2.7
3.0
3.7
2.6
2.0
4.2
2.6
2.7
12
Lone-mother families with children aged under 15 - of all families with children aged under 15
%
2002
19.9
18.8
22.6
20.5
20.9
23.0
18.6
17.1
20.3
13
Families with at least one child aged under 5 - of all families with children aged under 15
%
2002
44.3
43.6
44.9
45.7
43.4
42.5
48.1
39.3
44.2
14
Average family size - persons
no.
2002
3.1
3.1
3.0
2.9
3.0
2.9
3.2
3.1
3.0
15
Children aged under 15 living in one-parent families - of all children aged under 15
%
2002
20.0
19.0
22.8
21.7
20.4
21.7
23.2
18.5
20.5
16
Persons aged 20-24 living with parents - of all persons aged 20-24
%
2002
49.7
52.4
35.0
45.9
40.2
42.2
17.1
41.4
45.9
17
Persons aged 25-34 living with parents - of all persons aged 25-34
%
2002
14.0
16.2
9.2
12.3
7.9
9.5
6.3
7.6
12.7
18
Persons aged 15-64 who live alone - of all persons aged 15-64
%
2002
8.0
8.1
8.5
9.9
10.1
9.7
8.5
8.5
8.5
19
Persons aged 65 and over who live alone - of all persons aged 65 and over
%
2002
29.9
27.6
31.7
31.4
31.6
35.0
32.1
34.9
30.1
FAMILIES AND WORK
Units
Years
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
Couple families with children aged under 15
20
Both parents employed - of all couple families with children aged under 15
%
2002
58.2
55.7
55.4
60.2
56.0
49.7
70.6
71.9
57.1
21
Neither parent employed - of all couple families with children aged under 15
%
2002
6.8
7.8
7.9
7.3
6.2
9.7
4.8
2.9
7.2
22
One-parent families with children aged under 15, parent employed - of all one-parent families with children aged under 15
%
2002
45.3
50.4
42.3
45.0
44.0
50.5
60.4
63.0
46.2
23
Children aged under 15 living in families where no parent is employed - of all children aged under 15
%
2002
17.3
16.7
20.5
19.7
17.5
20.6
13.3
10.8
17.9
FAMILY FORMATION
Units
Years
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
Registered marriages
24
Number of marriages
'000
2001
36.1
25.0
20.3
7.4
9.8
2.2
0.8
1.6
103.1
25
Crude marriage rate (per 1,000 population)
rate
2001
5.5
5.2
5.6
4.9
5.1
4.6
3.9
4.9
5.3
26
Marriages where both partners married for the first time - of all marriages
%
2001
68.0
69.0
64.0
65.0
64.0
61.0
63.0
67.0
67.0
27
Median age of males at first marriage
years
2001
28.6
28.9
28.5
28.7
29.0
28.7
29.5
28.1
28.7
28
Median age of females at first marriage
years
2001
26.7
27.3
26.6
26.8
27.1
26.7
27.9
26.9
26.9
29
Median age at remarriage - divorced males
years
2001
42.7
42.7
43.3
44.0
43.4
43.6
44.1
42.8
43.1
30
Median age at remarriage - divorced females
years
2001
39.0
39.4
39.6
40.1
39.9
40.1
38.9
40.2
39.5
Divorce
31
Number of divorces
'000
2001
16.1
13.7
12.1
4.5
5.4
1.4
0.4
1.7
55.3
32
Crude divorce rate (per 1,000 population)
rate
2001
2.4
2.8
3.3
3.0
2.8
3.0
2.2
(b)
2.8
33
Median duration between marriage and final separation
years
2001
7.5
8.5
9.1
9.1
9.2
9.7
7.1
8.8
8.3
34
Divorces involving children aged under 18 - of all divorces
%
2001
45.5
52.2
53.9
53.9
54.3
56.2
47.2
53.1
51.2
35
Children aged under 18 affected by divorce
'000
2001
13.5
13.6
12.5
4.6
5.5
1.5
0.4
1.7
53.4
Fertility
36
Births(c)
'000
2001
84.6
58.6
47.7
17.3
24.0
6.4
3.8
3.9
246.4
37
Total fertility rate (per female)
rate
2001
1.76
1.61
1.80
1.67
1.72
2.07
2.26
1.51
1.73
38
Births to mothers aged under 20 - of all births
%
2001
4.4
3.2
6.1
4.2
5.5
8.4
13.3
2.9
4.8
39
Births to mothers aged 35 and over - of all births
%
2001
18.3
19.7
15.4
18.8
16.9
14.4
13.1
19.2
17.8
40
Births outside marriage - of all births
%
2001
27.7
25.6
35.4
33.6
34.6
42.8
63.2
27.1
30.7
41
Births outside marriage acknowledged by father - of all births outside marriage
%
2001
87.2
91.7
87.0
90.4
89.2
92.3
63.3
82.4
87.9
CHILD CARE
Units
Years
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT(d)
ACT
Aust.
42
Children aged under 3 using formal care - of all children aged under 3(e)
%
2002
21.7
26.3
29.7
22.9
23.2
27.5
39.3
39.7
25.2
43
Children aged under 3 using informal care - of all children aged under 3(e)
%
2002
36.8
30.1
36.6
48.4
45.0
40.4
41.4
38.0
36.9
44
Children aged 3-4 using formal care - of all children aged 3-4(e)
%
2002
75.6
71.3
75.0
68.4
69.1
62.9
54.9
79.7
72.8
45
Children aged 3-4 using informal care - of all children aged 3-4(e)
%
2002
33.7
39.8
31.7
48.0
37.0
38.2
35.1
40.9
36.4
46
Median weekly hours of care received by children aged under 3 - formal and informal combined
hours
2002
15
12
16
8
10
10
n.a.
n.a.
13
47
Median weekly hours of care received by children aged 3-4 - formal and informal combined
hours
2002
16
13
18
12
12
12
n.a.
n.a.
16
(a) Includes same-sex couples.
(c) Based on the location of the Family Court where the divorce is granted and registered. Due to the large number of divorces granted in the Australian Capital Territory to usual residents of another state, the divorce rate for the Australian Capital Territory is not representative of the Australian Capital Territory population.
(d) Based on registered births.
(e) Estimates for child care for the Northern Territory refer to mainly urban areas only.
(f) Components do not add to 100% as some children used both formal and informal care and others used neither.
Reference periods: Data on family formation are for the calendar year. Data on child care are at June.
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