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AustraliaCommunity profile

Regional Australia

Households with children

There are 460,002 couples with young children in Regional Australia in 2021, comprising 13.6% 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 Regional Australia, 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, Regional Australia'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
Regional Australia - Households (Enumerated)20212011Change
Households with childrenNumber%Regional NT %Number%Regional NT %2011 to 2021
Couples with children833,71324.623.8781,28326.928.4+52,430
Couples with young children460,00213.614.6439,17715.118.8+20,825
Couples with mixed-age children125,8783.75.0121,9634.25.3+3,915
Couples with older children247,8337.34.2220,1437.64.3+27,690
Single parents with children355,67410.510.5307,48610.610.3+48,188
Single parents with young children144,6964.34.7138,6444.85.4+6,052
Single parents with mixed-age children46,0681.42.240,4271.42.1+5,641
Single parents with older children164,9104.93.7128,4154.42.8+36,495
Total households with children1,189,38735.034.31,088,76937.538.7+100,618
Total households3,394,738100.0100.02,906,051100.0100.0+488,687
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2011 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 Regional Australia in 2021 compared to Regional NT shows that there was a smaller proportion of couples with young children, and a larger proportion of couples with older children.

Overall, 13.6% of total households with children were couple with young children, and 7.3% were couples with older children, compared with 14.6% and 4.2% respectively for Regional NT.

There were a similar proportion of single parent households with young children and a larger proportion of single parent households with older children. Overall, the proportion of single parent households with young children was 4.3% compared to 4.7% in Regional NT while the proportion of single parent households with older children was 4.9% compared to 3.7% in Regional NT.

Emerging groups

Between 2011 and 2021, the number of households with children increased by 100,618 households or 9.2%.

The largest changes in households with children in this area between 2011 and 2021 were:

  • Single parents with older children (+36,495 households)
  • Couples with older children (+27,690 households)
  • Couples with young children (+20,825 households)
  • Single parents with young children (+6,052 households)

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