4125.0 - Gender Indicators, Australia, Feb 2015  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/02/2015   
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MEDIA RELEASE
24 February 2015
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
23/2015

Women and men in Australia - how are they faring?


The latest Gender Indicators - Australia, released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides an insight on how women and men are faring in a number of different areas.

The data shows the life expectancy of men is now 80.1 years, the first time male life expectancy has passed 80 years.

“Women continue to have a longer life expectancy than men, with a life expectancy for women 84.3 years,” said Caroline Daley from the ABS.

“However, over the last ten years the gap has narrowed, life expectancy for men has increased by 2.3 years while the life expectancy for women has only increased by 1.5 years.”

While life expectancy may be rising, latest data shows that there has been a decline in participation in sport and recreational physical activity for both men and women between 2011-12 and 2013-14.

After adjusting for age, participation for males 15 years and over dropped five percentage points to 61 per cent and there was also a four percentage point drop for females to 60 per cent.

Data also shows young women and men are choosing different educational pathways in 2014. In the 18-24 age group, more women than men are studying for a Bachelor Degree or above (34 per cent compared to 25 per cent), while men are more likely to study Certificates III and IV (11 per cent compared to 6 per cent).

“In 2014, 42 per cent of females between 25 and 29 years of age had attained a Bachelor Degree or above while just 31 per cent of males had achieved a similar education level.” Ms Daley said.

More information can be found in Gender Indicators (cat. no 4125.0) available for free download from the ABS website https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media notes:

  • When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.