The Government’s recently released report “Australia’s Welfare 2013 in Brief” reveals interesting insights on the changing demographic of the Australian population.
The key facts:
- The Australian population passed 23 million in April 2013. Population growth was due to people living longer and migration.
- The birth rate in 2011 was 1.9 children per woman which is higher than 2001 but below the replacement rate of 2.1.
- 7 in 10 people live in major cities.
We are living longer:
Between 1972 and 2012, the number of people aged:
- 65 or over increased from 8% to 14% of the population, and
- 85 and over rose sixfold, from around 70,000 people to nearly 424,000.
The number of adults of ‘traditional working age’ (15–64) for every person of ‘dependent’ age (over 65 or under 15) is expected to drop from the current level of 2 to 1.7 by 2032.
We are working longer:
- Over the last decade, the work force participation rate for people aged 65 or over doubled from 6% to 12%.
- For men aged 65–69, the rise was from 20% to 34% and for women aged 65-69 the increase was from 9% to 20%.
Part-time work has increased:
- 1 in 3 employed people worked part-time (less than 35 hours per week) in 2012, which has almost doubled since 1982.
Families and households are changing:
- Due to the ageing population, couple families without children in the household are projected to exceed the number of couple families with children by 2014.
Cost of housing is soaring:
- House prices were more than 7 times the average household income in 2011 compared with 4 times at the start of 2002.
Please click on the following link to read the full report