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AustraliaCommunity profile

Greater Sydney

Households with children

There are 355,086 couples with young children in Greater Sydney in 2021, comprising 18.6% 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 Greater Sydney, 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, Greater Sydney'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
Greater Sydney - Households (Enumerated)20212011Change
Households with childrenNumber%Victoria %Number%Victoria %2011 to 2021
Couples with children657,94134.430.9556,67634.831.8+101,265
Couples with young children355,08618.617.1292,67418.316.8+62,412
Couples with mixed-age children88,9714.74.178,4304.94.5+10,541
Couples with older children213,88411.29.7185,57211.610.4+28,312
Single parents with children200,17810.510.2173,04610.810.5+27,132
Single parents with young children65,0653.43.559,1043.73.8+5,961
Single parents with mixed-age children22,4521.21.220,6261.31.3+1,826
Single parents with older children112,6615.95.593,3165.85.4+19,345
Total households with children858,11944.941.1729,72245.642.3+128,397
Total households1,911,658100.0100.01,601,530100.0100.0+310,128
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 Greater Sydney in 2021 compared to Victoria shows that there was a larger proportion of couples with young children, as well as a larger proportion of couples with older children.

Overall, 18.6% of total households with children were couple with young children, and 11.2% were couples with older children, compared with 17.1% and 9.7% respectively for Victoria.

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 3.4% compared to 3.5% in Victoria while the proportion of single parent households with older children was 5.9% compared to 5.5% in Victoria.

Emerging groups

Between 2011 and 2021, the number of households with children increased by 128,397 households or 17.6%.

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

  • Couples with young children (+62,412 households)
  • Couples with older children (+28,312 households)
  • Single parents with older children (+19,345 households)
  • Couples with mixed-age children (+10,541 households)

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