Classification and coding

Categories for 'Relationship in household' are based on the following criteria (in order of importance): 

• Whether the person is in a Couple relationship.
• If so, whether the relationship is a registered marriage.
• Whether the person is in a Parent-child relationship.
• Whether the person is a Dependent child.
• Whether the person is in an Other family relationship.
• If so, the precise nature of that relationship.
• Sex.
• Family number.

Denotes two people usually residing in the same household who share a social, economic and emotional bond usually associated with marriage and who consider their relationship to be a marriage or marriage-like union. The 'Relationship in household' variable distinguishes between registered and de facto marriages. 

Exist between a 'parent' and that person's 'child' when they are usual residents in the same dwelling. A parent must be 15 years of age or over, while a child can be any age and related to the parent through birth, adoption, step family formation or fostering.

A child is a person of any age who is a natural, adopted, step, foster or nominal son or daughter of a couple or lone parent who is a usual resident in the same household. A child is also any individual younger than 15 years of age, usually resident in the household, who forms a parent-child relationship with another member in the household. This includes otherwise related children and unrelated children under 15 years. To be classified as a child, the person can have no identified partner or child of their own usually resident in the household: a separate family would be formed in that case. Nominal child allocation rules (where a child under 15 years is a usual resident of a dwelling in which their parent is not a usual resident and must therefore be allocated a 'nominal parent') are specified in the Coding Procedures section of the 'Family composition' standard.

Dependency in ABS standards refers to nominally economic dependency only. Age and student status determine dependency for this purpose on the assumption that children under 15 and full-time students aged 15-24 years are unlikely to be able to support themselves.

Three broad categories of child are included in the 'Relationship in household' classification:

• Child under 15 years (also referred to as a dependent child).
• Dependent student aged 15-24 years and studying full-time (also referred to as a dependent child).
• Non-dependent child.

An 'Other family relationship' is any familial or marital relationship between two people excluding couple relationships and parent-child relationships. This includes relationships between generations (e.g. grandparents and grandchildren) and first cousins (i.e. persons related through one common set of grandparents), but not second cousins and beyond. A full list of the familial relationships that fall within the scope of an 'other family relationship' is given in the 'Coding Procedures' section of the 'Family composition' standard.

A person of any age who is a natural, adopted, step, foster or nominal son or daughter of a couple or lone parent who is a usual resident in the same household. A child is also any individual younger than 15 years of age, usually resident in the household, who forms a parent-child relationship with another member in the household. This includes otherwise related children and unrelated children under 15 years. To be classified as a child, the person can have no identified partner or child of their own usually resident in the household: a separate family would be formed in that case. Nominal child allocation rules (where a child under 15 years is a usual resident of a dwelling in which their parent is not a usual resident and must therefore be allocated a 'nominal parent') are specified in the Coding Procedures section of the 'Family composition' standard.

Dependency in ABS standards refers to nominally economic dependency only. Age and student status determine dependency for this purpose on the assumption that children under 15 and full-time students aged 15-24 years are unlikely to be able to support themselves.

Three broad categories of child are included in the 'Relationship in household' classification:

• Child under 15 years (also referred to as a dependent child).
• Dependent student aged 15-24 years and studying full-time (also referred to as a dependent child).
• Non-dependent child.

An 'Other family relationship' is any familial or marital relationship between two people excluding couple relationships and parent-child relationships. This includes relationships between generations (e.g. grandparents and grandchildren) and first cousins (i.e. persons related through one common set of grandparents), but not second cousins and beyond. A full list of the familial relationships that fall within the scope of an 'other family relationship' is given in the 'Coding Procedures' section of the 'Family composition' standard.

'Relationship in household' is a four level hierarchical classification with detailed categories of the classification (i.e. codes 15-18) coded using two digits rather than three or four. This is because many ABS surveys do not make the distinction between same-sex and opposite-sex couples in their standard output. This level of output is, however, available from the Census of Population and Housing.

The categories are as follows:

Residual code '69' is reserved for 'Other related individual not elsewhere classified'. Two examples are great uncle and second cousin.

Supplementary codes can be used for responses outside the scope of the classification but in-scope for the particular collection. This allows information to be retained while maintaining the distinction between the usual residents of a household, and visitors and others. Code 91 is recommended for responses of 'Visitor' in collections in which visitors to a household are in-scope of the collection, such as the Census of Population and Housing. Code 99 is recommended for 'Other non-classifiable relationships' of people if required. Census also uses the additional supplementary code 'VV' to identify overseas visitors.

The 'Relationship in household' classification applies to all usual residents of a dwelling. Visitors to the dwelling are generally outside the scope of this classification.

The categories of the 'Relationship in household' classification can be output in their own right. They can also be cross-classified by a range of other socio-demographic variables as the basis for identifying family and income units. The output of the classification is used directly as input to the 'Income unit composition', 'Family composition' and 'Household composition' standards.

Data for 'Relationship in household' is captured from a direct question and coded to a standard input category. The relationship to Person 1 is coded so that the family units in the household can be formed. Subsequent examination of the families produced from coding can confirm whether that Person 1 satisfies the criteria for a household reference person. Rules for forming families in all collections which aim to identify the structure of families within households can be found in the 'Family composition' standard.

A step child must be identified as being the step son or step daughter of one or both partners in a couple family, or as the step child of the lone parent in a one-parent family. In self-completed collections, a person must identify as being the child of one but not both people in a couple relationship, or be specifically identified as the step child of either one of the persons in a couple relationship or a lone parent, to be coded as a step child. However, in standard coding in most household surveys, the step child becomes indistinguishable from any other type of child once a code is allocated. Similarly, in these household surveys a person who is coded as a step-parent or step-sibling becomes indistinguishable from any other type of parent or sibling once a code is allocated.

In self-completed collections a person who does not form a couple or parent-child relationship (i.e. is not part of a family) will be coded to the appropriate type of relationship in the 'Other related individual' codes. For example, in a household composed of a reference person, spouse, daughter, son, and mother-in-law, the mother-in-law will be coded to 'Father/mother', which is effectively their relationship to one member of the family.

The 'Family number' identifier allows the coding of separate families from the 'Relationship in household' data. A single digit code is assigned to each person to indicate the family to which each person belongs as follows:

• code '0' is assigned to persons who are not members of families
• code '1' is assigned to all family members in a one family household, or to members of the first family in multi-family households
• code '2' is assigned to members of the second family in multi-family households, and so on.

The total number of families which can effectively be identified in a given collection may be limited by operational constraints. For example, up to nine families will be coded in ABS household surveys if the data is provided, and generally a maximum of 15 usual residents can be entered into the survey instrument. In Censuses of Population and Housing up to and including the 2011 Census, a limit of three families could be coded per dwelling due to the constraints of the printed self-completed form.

A coding index has been developed to assist in the implementation and use of the 'Relationship in Household' standard, and should be used when coding responses to questions relating to relationship. It contains a comprehensive list of the most probable responses to questions relating to relationships and their correct classification codes. The coding index enables responses to be coded accurately and quickly to the appropriate category of the classification.