Child type (CTPP)

Latest release
Census of Population and Housing: Census dictionary
Reference period
2021

Definition

This variable identifies different parent-child relationships within families.

Scope

All children

Categories

CodeCategory
1Natural, or adopted child of both parents or lone parent
2Step child of male parent
3Step child of female parent
4Foster child, so stated
5Otherwise related child (under 15)
6Unrelated child (under 15)
@Not applicable
VOverseas visitor

Number of categories: 8

Not applicable (@) category comprises:

  • Husband, wife, partners, lone parents, other related individuals, non-family members, or visitors (from within Australia) in family households
  • Persons in non-family/non-classifiable households
  • Persons in non-private dwellings
  • Persons in migratory, off-shore and shipping SA1s

See Understanding supplementary codes for more information.

An overcount of step children has been identified for some states and territories in the 2021 Census. This will impact some of the category counts for this variable. For more information, read the Data use considerations section below.

Question(s) from the Census form

What is the person’s relationship to Person 1/Person 2?

For each person away, complete the following questions:

How this variable is created

This variable is derived from the Relationship in household question on the Census form.

Children are classified as:

  • A ‘child’ if the person is aged under 15 years of age
  • 'Otherwise related child' when they live with another adult relative (e.g. older sibling, aunt, uncle) and no natural, adoptive, step-, foster-, or grand- parent is identified
  • 'Unrelated child' when no relative is identified within the same dwelling.

Persons aged over 15 years and over are classified as:

  • ‘Children’ if they are living with a natural, adoptive, step, foster or grandparent
  • 'Not applicable’ if they are a boarder and/or lodger aged 15 years and over

In some cases, children are listed on the Census form as Person 2. In this case, if both parents are usual residents, the response 'Child of both Person 1 and Person 2' is not available in the relationship question for Person 2. Coders attempt to establish whether the child was a step child or child of both parents using other information such as surname.

History and changes

A question on the relationships between members of a household has been asked in all censuses since 1911. This variable has been output since 1991.

No changes have been made for 2021.

Data use considerations

This variable captures complex family structures such as blended families or multiple generations of families within a household. The quality of family data in the Census is partly dependent on people’s ability to describe these relationships within the constraints of the generalised questionnaire format required by a Census.

The categories 'step child' and 'foster child' are not necessarily pure counts as a parent may report such a child as being a child of Person 1 and Person 2. In this case the child would be classified as a 'natural child'.

Cross classification of Child type (CTPP) with Family composition (FMCF) allows analysis of different family types.

An overcount of step children and an undercount of natural or adopted children for couple families has been identified for Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Other Territories. Victoria was partially affected. South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory remain unaffected. Only step children in couple families where the spouse was temporarily absent were impacted. These children have been incorrectly categorised to the step child of male parent or female parent categories for both Child type (CTPP) and Child type (including grandchildren) (CTGP) variables. These children have also been incorrectly categorised to step child under 15, student step child or non-dependent step child for both Relationship in household (RLHP) and Relationship in household (including grandchildren) (RLGP) variables. This also means these families have been incorrectly categorised as step families in the Family blending (FBLF) variable.  

This variable does not have a non-response rate as it is created during Census processing by using responses from more than one question on the Census form.

Related variables and glossary terms

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