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AustraliaCommunity profile

Victoria

Households with children

There are 428,017 couples with young children in Victoria in 2021, comprising 17.1% of households.

Households with Children require different services and facilities than other household types, and their needs change as both adults and children age. When many families in an area are at the same stage in their individual lifecycles, it creates a suburb lifecycle. Knowing where a suburb is in a cycle of change helps planners make evidence-based decisions about the demand for services both now and in the future.

For Households with Children in Victoria, life stage is based on the age of children in the household. The age of the parent(s) is not taken into account.

  • Young children: Children aged under 15 only
  • Mixed age children: One or more children under 15 and one or more children over 15 (must have 2 or more children)
  • Older children: Children aged 15 and over only

To continue building the story, Victoria's Household data should be viewed in conjunction with Household Size, Age Structure and Dwelling Type.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'What is the person's relationship (to each other person in the household)?'

Households with children by life stage
Victoria - Households (Enumerated)20212001Change
Households with childrenNumber%Australia %Number%Australia %2001 to 2021
Couples with children775,06330.929.7594,55334.332.7+180,510
Couples with young children428,01717.116.4307,80317.817.6+120,214
Couples with mixed-age children102,6864.14.193,3415.45.2+9,345
Couples with older children244,3609.79.2193,40911.210.0+50,951
Single parents with children254,70410.210.5177,02510.210.5+77,679
Single parents with young children86,9533.53.973,0374.24.7+13,916
Single parents with mixed-age children29,1861.21.321,0931.21.3+8,093
Single parents with older children138,5655.55.482,8954.84.5+55,670
Total households with children1,029,76741.140.2771,57844.643.2+258,189
Total households2,507,626100.0100.01,731,343100.0100.0+776,283
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2001 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Dominant groups

Analysis of the families with children in Victoria in 2021 compared to Australia shows that there was a larger proportion of couples with young children, as well as a larger proportion of couples with older children.

Overall, 17.1% of total households with children were couple with young children, and 9.7% were couples with older children, compared with 16.4% and 9.2% respectively for Australia.

There were a similar proportion of single parent households with young children and a similar proportion of single parent households with older children. Overall, the proportion of single parent households with young children was 3.5% compared to 3.9% in Australia while the proportion of single parent households with older children was 5.5% compared to 5.4% in Australia.

Emerging groups

Between 2001 and 2021, the number of households with children increased by 258,189 households or 33.5%.

The largest changes in households with children in this area between 2001 and 2021 were:

  • Couples with young children (+120,214 households)
  • Single parents with older children (+55,670 households)
  • Couples with older children (+50,951 households)
  • Single parents with young children (+13,916 households)

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