Work and family facts and statistics

Changes in families means more workers will also be parents and carers

Almost half of working Victorians care for dependent children or other family members.
(Business Victoria (2006), Work and family in Victoria - family and the Victorian workforce)

The percentage of employed mothers with dependent children is increasing - from 46 per cent in 1985 to 69 per cent in 2008.
(Human Rights Equal Opportunity Commission HREOC (2005), Striking the balance: women, men, work and family discussion paper, p 14 and ABS (2008) Labor Force electronic delivery)
Percentage of couples with only one full-time worker is decreasing - from 51 per cent in 1981 to 31 per cent in 2000.
(A Burbidge and P Sheehan (2001), 'The polarisation of families' in J Borland et al, Work Rich and Work Poor: Inequality and Economic Change in Australia, Victoria University, Melbourne)
The number of sole parent families increased more than threefold between 1976 and 1996.
(ABS (2002), Census of Population and Housing: Selected Social and Housing Characteristics, Australia)
In 2006 sole parent families represented 23.8 per cent of all families with dependent children.
(ABS (2006), Census of Population and Housing: Selected Social and Housing Characteristics, Australia)

In one survey of 1000 Australian fathers:

68 per cent felt they did not spend enough time with their children.
More than half believed that their participation in paid work created major barriers to being involved as fathers; workload and time pressures were seen as major barriers.
53 per cent felt that their paid work and family lives interfered with each other.
(HREOC (2005), 'Striking the balance: women, men, work and family' discussion paper, p 54)

There are more than 322,000 Victorians with a severe or profound disability who are assisted by family members.
Carers are of all ages but are most likely to be between 35 and 54 years old.
(Carers Victoria, 'Carers in Victoria the facts', sourced from 2004 Australian Bureau of Statistics. These statistics also include disability related to ageing.)

Declining birth rates coupled with increased longevity mean that Australia’s population growth is slowing and the population is ageing.
By 2016 Australians aged over 65 will account for 14 per cent of our total population.
(Business Victoria (2006), Work and family in Victoria: family and the Victorian workforce)
Studies of Australian population trends predict that the current skills shortage will be exacerbated by the ageing population.
Australia’s working population grows by an average of around 166,000 people every year. But trends already in place will see the working age population grow by just 190,000 for the entire decade of the 2020s, which is one tenth of the current pace.
(Access Economics (2005), 'Workforce Participation in Victoria', p 26)