Changes in the Family

MAIN FINDINGS  Out of Australia's 4.6 million children aged under eighteen, 1.1 million children live with only one of their natural parents, usually as a result of relationship or marriage breakdown.  18 per cent of children were in one-parent families and 8 per cent were in step or blended families.  The vast majority of children, who had a natural parent living elsewhere, were in the sole care of the parent with whom they lived, while 3 per cent of children …

…step family. When children are born to the new couple relationship a blended family is formed. The summary of findings will also present detailed tables on family composition and marital status, including a life-stage classification of families by age of youngest child or age of spouse (in the case of couple families without children). Life-stage information helps to identify the nature of caring activities in families and so is particularly useful for analysing employment statistics.