The traditional family make-up has changed during the past 30 years with the number of childless couples rising by a third, according to the Australian government' s Families 2008 report released on Wednesday.
The report revealed that in the past three decades to 2006, couple-only families increased from 28 percent to 37 percent, while dependent children families fell from 48 percent to 37 percent of all families. It found there are nearly 3,000 same-sex couples with dependent children.
At the same time, the household debt has been on the rise due to the decrease of fertility rates.
It highlighted the diversity in the make-up of families in Australia with more than one quarter of Australians in 2006 having had at least one parent born overseas.
The report also noted that women's participation in the labour force has increased during the past 30 years to 58 percent, still substantially lower than the male rate of 72 percent. |
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