In the five years from 1991 to 1996, the nature of the Australian family changed. In the count of Australian families in the Census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that almost 15% are lone parent families. This is a significant rise, from 12.9% in 1991. It reflects the continuing rise in divorces and separations in marriage and in de facto relationships, and possibly a rise in single adults who have decided to have families.
The Bureau also found that the income levels of families with one parent were, on average, substantially below those of families in which there were two parents. Lone parents may sometimes be among the most economically disadvantaged people in society.
The fact that the Census identified a lone parent family does not mean that the children do not have support from two parents. However, it does mean that the two parents are not living together and sharing in the tasks of parenting in that way.

Decreasing Family Size

However, many young adults are deciding not to have children or at least, not yet. The period of life over which Australian women are bearing children is shortening. One result is the increase in families of 'couples only': up from 31.6% of all families in 1991 to 33.2% in 1996.
Families are decreasing in size. The figure below shows the rise in one parent families with one, two or three dependants, and the corresponding decrease in couples with dependants in each category. If one adds the percentage of couples and lone parents with three or more children one finds there has been a slight decrease: from 24.2% of all families to 23.4%.
While this change is slight, it indicative that a more substantial change may occur over the period of a generation.
Decreasing family size may be indicative of changes in values. The Australian Community Survey found that people with more children placed more importance on family life as their source of peace and well-being.

Philip Hughes