6224.0.55.001 - Labour Force, Australia: Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families, June 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/12/2017   
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ONE PARENT FAMILIES

In June 2017, there were 967,600 one parent families making up 14% of all families. Of these one parent families, 63% had dependants living with them. (Datacube 1)

Graph Image for ONE PARENT FAMILIES, Employment status-By age group of youngest dependent child, 2017


ONE PARENT FAMILIES WITH DEPENDANTS

In June 2017, there were 609,100 one parent families with dependants (including children under 15 and dependent students aged 15–24 years); the vast majority (83%) were single mother families. Of all one parent families with children and dependants, 55% had a youngest dependant aged 0–9 years. (Datacubes 1, 9)

There were 360,300 one parent families where the parent was employed and had dependants in June 2017; this represented 59% of all one parent families with dependants. Of these families, 289,900 had an employed single mother and 70,400 had an employed single father. In one parent families with dependants, 57% of mothers were employed, compared with 68% of fathers. (Datacube 9). Three-quarters (75%) of employed single mothers were aged between 35 and 54 years. (Datacube 7)

Overall the proportion of one parent families with children or dependants aged 15-24 years where the parent was employed generally increased with the age of the youngest dependant, from 40% (youngest dependant under 5 years old) to 76% (youngest dependant 15–24 years old). However, this increase was more prominent for single mothers. (Datacube 9)

Graph Image for ONE PARENT FAMILIES, Employment status-By sex and age of youngest dependent child, 2017