Notes on the data: Families

Single parent families with children aged less than 15 years, 2021

Policy context: In the 2021 Census, of the families in Australia, 43.7% were couple families with children, 38.8% were couple families without children and 15.9% (1,068,268 families) were one parent families: 79.8% of single parents were female and 20.2% were male [1][2]. Compared with other family types, one parent families are considered to be at a higher risk of disadvantage, with respect to income, housing, employment and social participation [2].

The number of single parent families (increased by over 100,000 between 2016 and 2021, compared with an increase of 50,000 more families in 2016 when compared with 2011). As a result, many children spend at least some of their childhood with a lone parent; and many women and some men experience sole parenting, often in difficult financial circumstances. The economic and social wellbeing of one-parent families is a focus of social policy, as many single parent families also experience poorer health, and are major users of publicly-funded services. Details of their location are, therefore, relevant to policy makers and those providing health, education, welfare and housing and transport services.

References

Labour Force Status of Families. Available from : https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-status-families/latest-release; last accessed 7 September 2022
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2021 Census of Population and Housing General community profile Australia Canberra ABS 2022. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/census/guide-census-data/about-census-tools/community-profiles; accessed 25 August 2022
ABS. Australian Social Trends, 2007 - Article: One-parent families. (ABS Cat. no. 4102). Canberra: ABS; 2007 [cited 2013 Oct 18]. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/3A8D1AA0F3AB7D66CA25732F001C94E6/$File/41020_One-parent%20families_2007.pdf

Geography: Data available by Population Health Area, Local Government Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic disadvantage of area and Quintiles within PHNs, and Remoteness Area

Numerator: Single parent families with children under 15 years

Denominator: All families with children under 15 years

Detail of analysis: Percent

Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on the ABS Census of Population and Housing, August 2021.