6224.0.55.001 - Labour Force, Australia: Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families, June 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/12/2017   
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ONE PARENT FAMILIES

In June 2017, there were 967,600 one parent families making up 14% of all families. Of these one parent families, 63% had dependants living with them. (Datacube 1)

Graph Image for ONE PARENT FAMILIES, Employment status-By age group of youngest dependent child, 2017

Source(s): ONE PARENT FAMILIES, Employment status-By age group of youngest dependent child, 2017-6224_0_JUNE_2017_GRAPH_4



ONE PARENT FAMILIES WITH DEPENDANTS

In June 2017, there were 609,100 one parent families with dependants (including children under 15 and dependent students aged 15–24 years); the vast majority (83%) were single mother families. Of all one parent families with children and dependants, 55% had a youngest dependant aged 0–9 years. (Datacubes 1, 9)

There were 360,300 one parent families where the parent was employed and had dependants in June 2017; this represented 59% of all one parent families with dependants. Of these families, 289,900 had an employed single mother and 70,400 had an employed single father. In one parent families with dependants, 57% of mothers were employed, compared with 68% of fathers. (Datacube 9). Three-quarters (75%) of employed single mothers were aged between 35 and 54 years. (Datacube 7)

Overall the proportion of one parent families with children or dependants aged 15-24 years where the parent was employed generally increased with the age of the youngest dependant, from 40% (youngest dependant under 5 years old) to 76% (youngest dependant 15–24 years old). However, this increase was more prominent for single mothers. (Datacube 9)

Graph Image for ONE PARENT FAMILIES, Employment status-By sex and age of youngest dependent child, 2017

Source(s): ONE PARENT FAMILIES, Employment status-By sex and age of youngest dependent child, 2017-6224_0_JUNE_2017_GRAPH_5