A recent report from Australia has provided an in-depth look at the changing dynamics of Australian families.
The AMP.NATSEM Income and Wealth Report Modern Family reveals that 78% of people apparently now cohabit before marriage, which is an increase of 72% compared to ten years ago. The past decade has also seen a drop in the nation’s annual marriage rate from 6.6 marriages per 1,000 people to 5.5.
AMP Chief Customer Officer Paul Sainsbury said today’s modern family is almost unrecognisable from the Mum, Dad and a couple of children households of recent decades.
“Today’s modern family is complex and diverse. Living alongside more traditional families are blended and step-families, single parent families, de facto couples and same-sex families,” Mr Sainsbury said.
“The report shows the divorce rate has stabilised, and divorces involving children have actually declined, perhaps because Australians are getting married later and the financial and psychological impact of relationship breakdowns is causing people to think twice.”
The report also found that:
- The divorce rate in Australia has steadied at 2.2 per 1,000 people, which is similar to the UK and Canada, but much lower than in the USA where there are 3.4 divorces per 1,000 people.
- The most common type of family are those with two natural parents and two kids which make up 28% of all families with kids. Intact couple families with one child are the second most common at 23%, followed by single parents with one child at 15%.
- The number of blended families with dependent children has increased from 2.5 to 4% since the 1980s and the number of step-families with kids has increased, from 4.3% to 6.9% over the same period.
- The majority of Australians support equal rights for same-sex couples. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Gen Y, 53% of Gen X and 42% of Baby Boomers support equal rights for same sex couples and more than 30% of older Australians (born between 1906 and 1945) also support same-sex equality. Recent consumer attitude polls show about 65% of Australians support same-sex marriage.
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