Labour Force Status of Families methodology

The primary relationships that define family units are couple relationships and parent-child relationships. From these, there are three main types of families: couple families, one parent families, and other families.

• Couple families are based around two people in a couple relationship who usually live together in the same household. Couples can be same-sex or opposite-sex, and their dependants or children may also be members of the couple family if they all reside in the same household.
• One parent families are based around a person who is not in a couple relationship with anyone who usually lives in the same household, but has at least one child who usually lives in the household regardless of the age of the child. These households can include other related individuals. While couple families can be made up of couples with or without children - one parent families necessarily include children.
• Other families are defined as a group of other related individuals residing in the same household. These individuals do not form a couple or parent-child relationship with any other person in the household and are not related to any couple or one-parent families that might also be in the same household.

In some cases, a household will contain more than one family. Multi-generational households or households with many family members may be split into smaller family units. For example, a single mother with a baby living with her parents forms two families in the one household. The parents are one couple family and the daughter and her baby form one lone parent family.

People who live alone or who live in households with non-relatives, such as students sharing a flat (with no couple relationships), are not considered to be in a family. Family members who usually live across different households are also not included. These statistics are intended to reflect families who usually live together in the same household.

There are special cases for when a child under 15 years old is living with non-relatives. In these cases, the child is considered to be dependent, so they form a child dependency relationship with the oldest member of the household (the family head), thereby forming a one parent family.

Families can be classed as having, or not having, dependants. There are two kinds of dependants:

• children under 15 years, and
• dependent students aged 15 to 24 years who are attending school or studying full-time at a tertiary education institution and living with their parents/guardians.

These children are considered to be financially dependent on the parent or parents that they usually live with, which is why they are referred to as 'dependants'. However, they have to be usually living in the same household; full-time students who have left home to study and live by themselves are not considered to be part of the family in that household, even if they remain financially dependent on their parents.

Children aged over 15 years who are not full-time students are not considered dependent on their parents, even if they still live at home. It is also possible to have one parent families without dependants, (such as, an 80 year old mother living with her 55 year old daughter).

It is important to consider whether children in a household are dependent on their parents when looking at these estimates, as the labour force characteristics will vary between families who have dependants and those that do not.

Non-sampling error may occur in any collection, whether it is based on a sample or a full count such as a census. Sources of non-sampling error include non-response, errors in reporting by respondents or recording of answers by interviewers and errors in coding and processing data. Every effort is made to reduce non-sampling error by careful design and testing of questionnaires, training and supervision of interviewers, and extensive editing and quality control procedures at all stages of data processing.

Standard errors can be calculated using the estimates (counts or percentages) and the corresponding RSEs. Since the RSE is obtained by expressing the standard error as a percentage of the estimate, recalculating the standard error is obtained by multiplying the estimate by the RSE. 

Estimates for All families include couple families, one parent families and other families, both with and without dependants.

A person of any age who is a natural, adopted, step, or foster son or daughter of a couple or lone parent, usually resident in the same household.

All children under 15 years who usually reside in a household must form a parent-child relationship with at least one other member of the household. In households where there is no reported parent or guardian, the child is classified as having a parent-child relationship with the next most appropriate adult. This can include parent-child relationships with other relatives (such as aunts, uncles or grandparents) or with unrelated individuals (a nominal guardian).

In order to be classified as a child, the person can have no partner or child of his or her own usually resident in the household.

There are three types of child identified in the 'Relationship in household' classification:

• Child under 15 years
• Dependent student
• Non-dependent child

The differentiation of children into these three types is based upon the dependency criterion and is designed to identify families with different structures and needs. Dependency as used in these standards refers to economic dependency and is applied only to the population of people who could be described as 'children'. It is thus not intended to measure an aged or disabled person's dependency.

See Dependant, Dependent Student and Non-dependent Child.

A couple relationship is defined as two people usually residing in the same household who share a social, economic and emotional bond usually associated with marriage and who consider their relationship to be a marriage or marriage-like union. This relationship is identified by the presence of a registered marriage or de facto marriage.

In practice, a de facto marriage exists between couples when their relationship to each other is reported as partner, lover, boyfriend, girlfriend, or as a common law (or de facto) husband, wife or spouse.

A 'couple relationship' includes same-sex couples.

Couple families are families that defined by the presence of a couple relationship. Couple families include opposite-sex and same-sex couples, and they can be with and without dependants.

A dependant is a family member who is either:

• under 15 years of age;
• aged 15–19 years and attending school or aged 15–24 years and attending a tertiary education institution full time (i.e. dependent students).

In order to be classified as a dependant, the person must have no partner or child of his/her own usually resident in the household. A separate family in the household is formed in this instance.

A full-time student aged 15-24 years, living in the same usual residence as their natural, step, foster or adoptive parent.

Full-time students aged 15-24 years can also live in families with relatives other than their natural, step, foster or adoptive parent. Unless otherwise indicated, these students are classified as "other relatives" and are excluded from estimates of families with dependent students. 

Two or more persons, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering, and who are usually resident in the same household. The basis of a family is formed by identifying the presence of a couple relationship, lone parent-child relationship or other blood relationship. Some households will therefore contain more than one family.

Consider, for example, if two elderly brothers are living with the family of the daughter of one of the brothers. The daughter's family forms the basic family of the household and the two brothers are both allocated to this family unit as related individuals. The two brothers do not form a separate family in their own right in addition to the daughter's family, because they are related to a couple family or one-parent family already present in the household. However, if the two brothers were living in a dwelling with a family to whom they were not related, they would then form a family in their own right and be classified as an 'other family'.

See Other Families.

The categories for family composition are:

• Couple family
  • Couple family with dependants
    • Couple family with children under 15 years
    • Couple family without children under 15 years, but with dependent students
  • Couple family without dependants
    • Couple family without dependants, but with children 15 years or older (ie non-dependent child)
    • Couple family without children
• One parent family
  • One parent family with dependants
    • One parent family with children under 15 years
    • One parent family without children under 15 years, but with dependent students
  • One parent family without dependants, but with children 15 years or older (ie non-dependent child)
• Other families

Estimates for families with dependants include families with:

• children aged under 15 years
• children aged 15–19 years and attending school or aged 15–24 years and attending a tertiary education institution full time (i.e. dependent students)

A male parent with dependants and/or children. The relationship between a father and a child/dependant can be formed via a natural, adoptive, step, foster or child dependency relationship.

The number of hours actually worked during the reference week.

One or more persons usually resident in the same private dwelling.

A person in a couple relationship with another person usually resident in the same household. The couple relationship may be in either a registered or de facto marriage and includes same-sex couples. In an opposite sex couple, this is the male partner (ie husband). In a same-sex couple, it is the eldest partner (and can be female or male).

A jobless family is a family where no persons in the family aged 15 years or over are employed. This includes dependants and non-dependent children.

In a jobless family, all of the family members are either unemployed and/or not in the labour force.

Families that have no employed members but do have members that are classified as undetermined in the scope of the labour force survey, such as members of the permanent Australian defence force, are not included in the number of jobless families.

See One Parent family.

Where a person has an unknown labour force status or was a permanent member of the Australian defence force (out of scope for labour force survey).

Unless otherwise indicated, estimates for families with couples or parents who have a labour force status not determined are not published separately, but are included in totals where applicable.

Refers to unemployed persons who have been actively seeking work for one year or more.

A female parent with dependants and/or children, or non-dependent children. The relationship between a mother and a child/dependant can be formed via a natural, adoptive, step, foster or child dependency relationship.

Non-dependent children are defined as children over the age of 15 years who are not studying full-time.

In order to be classified as a child, the person must have no partner or child of his/her own usually resident in the household. A separate family in the household is formed in this instance.

The types of parent-child relationships which can be formed are via a natural, adoptive, step, or foster relationship.

Dependency, as used in these classifications, refers to economic dependency and is only applied to the part of the population that can be described as ‘children’.

The dependency criterion is based on the barriers to full time employment: age and student status. Essentially, once a child turns 15 years and becomes eligible to be included in the labour force, they lose their dependency status unless they are attending school or a tertiary educational institution full-time, are aged 15 to 24 years old and live in the same household as their parents/ guardian.

See Child.

An establishment which provides a communal type of accommodation, such as a hotel, motel, hospital or other institution. Family data is not collected from non-private dwellings.

A family consisting of one parent with at least one dependant or non-dependent child (regardless of age) who is also usually resident in the family. This family type may or may not include other related individuals.

Two persons of the opposite sex who are in a couple relationship and are usually resident in the same household.

A family of related individuals residing in the same household. These individuals do not form a couple or parent-child relationship with any other person in the household and are not related to any couple or one parent family in the household (if present).

If two brothers, for example, are living together and neither is a partner, a lone parent or a child to anyone else in the household, and neither is related to any person in the household who are in a couple or one-parent family (if present), then they are classified as an other family. However, if the two brothers share the household with the daughter of one of the brothers and her husband, then both brothers are included in the couple family and classified as other related individuals.

A residential structure which is self-contained, owned or rented by the occupants, and intended solely for residential use. A private dwelling may be a flat, part of a house, or even a room, but can also be a house attached to, or rooms above shops or offices. Family data is only collected from private dwellings.

The relationship of each person residing in the same household. This is typically in relation to the family reference person (previously referred to as the "head" of the family). The family reference person is typically a parent of children in the household or a husband/partner in a family formed around a couple relationship.

Two persons of the same sex who are in a couple relationship and are usually resident in the same household.

Refers to unemployed persons who have been actively seeking work for less than 12 months.

Single mother families are defined as one parent families with a single female parent and at least one dependent or non-dependent child (regardless of age) who are usually resident in the same household. The relationship between the mother and child can be formed via a natural, adoptive, step, foster or child dependency relationship.

Single father families are defined as one parent families with a single male parent and at least one dependent or non-dependent child (regardless of age) who are usually resident in the same household. The relationship between the father and child can be formed via a natural, adoptive, step, foster or child dependency relationship.

Social marital status is the relationship status of an individual with reference to another person who is usually resident in the household. A marriage exists when two people live together as husband and wife, or partners, regardless of whether the marriage is formalised through registration. Individuals are, therefore, regarded as married if they are in a de facto marriage, or if they are living with the person to whom they are registered as married.

A Technical and Further Education (TAFE) college, university, or other educational institution, excluding primary schools and secondary schools (i.e. High School).

A person who usually lives in that particular dwelling and regards it as their own or main home.

A person in a couple relationship with another person usually resident in the same household. The couple relationship may be in either a registered or de facto marriage and includes same-sex couples. In an opposite sex couple, this is the female partner (ie wife). In a same-sex couple, it is the youngest partner (and can be male or female).