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AustraliaCommunity profile

Greater Capital Cities

Households with children

There are 1,115,209 couples with young children in Greater Capital Cities in 2021, comprising 17.9% 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 Capital Cities, 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 Capital Cities'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 Capital Cities - Households (Enumerated)20212016Change
Households with childrenNumber%Australia %Number%Australia %2016 to 2021
Couples with children2,024,48032.529.71,850,66033.030.3+173,820
Couples with young children1,115,20917.916.41,005,93417.916.6+109,275
Couples with mixed-age children273,4884.44.1247,6704.44.2+25,818
Couples with older children635,78310.29.2597,05610.79.5+38,727
Single parents with children661,24910.610.5582,57110.410.4+78,678
Single parents with young children231,6513.73.9199,5703.63.8+32,081
Single parents with mixed-age children76,8851.21.367,2321.21.2+9,653
Single parents with older children352,7135.75.4315,7695.65.3+36,944
Total households with children2,685,72943.140.22,433,23143.440.7+252,498
Total households6,236,867100.0100.05,604,707100.0100.0+632,160
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 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 Capital Cities 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, 17.9% of total households with children were couple with young children, and 10.2% 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 3.7% compared to 3.9% in Australia while the proportion of single parent households with older children was 5.7% compared to 5.4% in Australia.

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of households with children increased by 252,498 households or 10.4%.

The largest changes in households with children in this area between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • Couples with young children (+109,275 households)
  • Couples with older children (+38,727 households)
  • Single parents with older children (+36,944 households)
  • Single parents with young children (+32,081 households)

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