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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn 2021, Greater Sydney had 6.7% of couple families with children in step families and 2.5% in blended families.
Information on blended and intact families can be an indicator of the level of family breakup and repartnering within the area, and a potential indicator of socio-economic disadvantage. Family blending only applies to couple families with children. For information more broadly about household and family types, including single-parent families, please see Household Type, Households with Children, and Households without Children.
Q:
Derived from the Census question:
'What is the person's relationship (to each other person in the household)?'
| Family blending | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Sydney - Total couples with children (Enumerated) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Family blending by type | Number | % | Greater Capital Cities % | Number | % | Greater Capital Cities % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Intact Family | 604,635 | 90.5 | 89.0 | 567,839 | 92.0 | 90.6 | +36,796 |
| Step family | 44,672 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 30,700 | 5.0 | 5.9 | +13,972 |
| Blended family | 16,369 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 16,798 | 2.7 | 3.2 | -429 |
| Other couple family | 2,087 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 2,088 | 0.3 | 0.4 | -1 |
| Total couples with children | 667,763 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 617,425 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +50,338 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the family blending in Greater Sydney in 2021 compared to Greater Capital Cities shows that there was a lower proportion of step families as well as a lower proportion of blended families. Overall, 6.7% of total couple families with children were step families, and 2.5% were blended families, compared with 7.6% and 3.0% respectively for Greater Capital Cities.
There were a similar proportion of other families and a higher proportion of couples without children. Overall, the proportion of other families was 0.3% compared to 0.4% in Greater Capital Cities while the proportion of intact families was 90.5% compared to 89.0% in Greater Capital Cities.
Emerging groups
The number of couple families with children in Greater Sydney increased by 50,338 between 2016 and 2021.
The largest changes in family blending in Greater Sydney between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Intact Family (+36,796 couples with children)
- Step family (+13,972 couples with children)
- Blended family (-429 couples with children)
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