Labour force status of parents/partners in families (LFSF)

Latest release
Census of Population and Housing: Census dictionary
Reference period
2021

Definition

This variable records the labour force status of parents/partners in couple and lone parent families.

Scope

Families in family households

Categories

CodeCategory
01Couple family: Both employed, worked full-time
02Couple family: One employed full-time, other part-time
03Couple family: One employed full-time, other away from work
04Couple family: One employed full-time, other unemployed
05Couple family: One employed full-time, other not in the labour force
06Couple family: One employed full-time, other labour force status not stated
07Couple family: Both employed, worked part-time
08Couple family: One employed part-time, other away from work
09Couple family: One employed part-time, other unemployed
10Couple family: One employed part-time, other not in the labour force
11Couple family: One employed part-time, other labour force status not stated
12Couple family: Both employed, away from work
13Couple family: One away from work, other unemployed
14Couple family: One away from work, other not in the labour force
15Couple family: One away from work, other labour force status not stated
16Couple family: Both unemployed
17Couple family: One unemployed, other not in the labour force
18Couple family: One unemployed, other labour force status not stated
19Couple family: Both not in the labour force
20Couple family: One not in the labour force, other labour force status not stated
21Couple family: Both labour force status not stated
22One parent family: Employed, worked full-time
23One parent family: Employed, worked part-time
24One parent family: Employed, away from work
25One parent family: Unemployed
26One parent family: Not in the labour force
27One parent family: Labour force status not stated
28Other family
@@Not applicable

Number of categories:  29

Not applicable (@@) category comprises:

  • Non-family/Non-classifiable households
  • Unoccupied private dwellings
  • Non-private dwellings
  • Migratory, off-shore and shipping SA1s

'Away from work' includes parents/partners who either:

  • did not state the number of hours worked
  • did not work any hours in the week prior to Census night

'Labour force status not stated' includes couple families where:

  • one or both parents/partners did not state their labour force status
  • one parent/partner was temporarily absent on Census night

‘Part-time’ is classified as a person who worked less than 35 hours in all jobs during the week prior to Census night.

‘Full-time’ is classified as a person who has worked 35 hours or more in all jobs during the week prior to Census night.

Question(s) from the Census form

What is the person’s relationship to Person 1/Person 2?

Last week, did the person have a job of any kind?

Last week, how many hours did the person work in all jobs?

How this variable is created

Couple families and one parent families are identified from the Family composition (FMCF) variable. For these families the Labour force status (LFSP) and Hours worked (HRSP) for each parent in the family is used to determine which category the family fits into.

History and changes

This variable was first introduced in 2011, with some minor changes implemented in 2016.  

No changes have been made for 2021.

Data use considerations

This variable does not have a non-response rate as it is created during Census processing by using responses from more than one question on the Census form. 

Comparing Census with ABS Labour Force Survey

The Census and Labour Force Survey both collect information about the labour market activity of people aged 15 years and over. While both collections seek to measure the concepts related to employment, unemployment and being outside of the labour force, there are a number of differences between them that should be considered in the use of the data. A summary of the differences between these collections is available in Comparing the 2021 Census and the Labour Force Survey

Related variables and glossary terms

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