Family size and the age of Australians

Introduction

The size and composition of Australian families has undergone increasingly rapid change over the past century with implications for people individually and for future economic and social policy. There are many trends affecting families such as the increase of population, age and life expectancy, overseas migrant composition and improved living standards of Australians. Other factors include education and employment patterns, migration flows, changing gender roles, welfare support trends and social attitudes, and the influence declining fertility levels have on the aging of Australia's population. This chapter will discuss these trends and those effecting low fertility such as the changing age of mothers, declining family size and childlessness.

Fertility rates

Census results have shown a big change in the way Australians choose to have families and in the fertility rates, expressed as the number of children being born. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Australia's economic outlook improved and its total fertility rate (TFR) increased as births postponed during the Second World War took place. This was linked to the influx of immigrants of child-bearing age and the then current trend of universal marriages. Australia's TFR reached its peak for the century in 1961 with 3.5 children per mother but by 1976 had fallen below replacement level with an average of 2.1 children. Fertility rates continue to decline, however the decline has slowed in recent years and is now relatively stable, varying between 1.7 and 1.8. The fertility rate for Indigenous women has remained higher than that for all women, but has fallen more rapidly and is now roughly 2.2 children. In 2003, about five percent of Australia's five million women of child-bearing age gave birth.

Ageing population

Australia's current low levels of fertility are linked to partnering, and consequently childbirth, occurring at later ages than in the past. Family size is largely determined by the age at which women begin bearing children. The fewer available reproductive years result in fewer children being born and the increased risk of lifetime childlessness. This fall has been restricted in recent decades to those under the age of 30 years, with the most extreme rise then fall occurring for women in their early twenties. Teenage fertility peaked in 1971 with nearly 56 children per 1000 mothers aged 15-19 years, and reached its lowest rate recorded in 2000 with 17 births per 1000 teenagers. Most births to teenagers occur outside of marriage. The falling fertility for those less than 30 years old is contrasted with the recent increase of women in their thirties giving birth who are also increasingly likely to be first-time mothers. The rise in fertility for older age groups (30-49 years) has not made up for the fall in the rate for younger age groups (15-29 years). This has resulted in a gradual decline in total fertility levels and an older average child-bearing age which has shifted from 25-29-year-olds to 30-34-year-olds.

Family size and childlessness

Australian women are not only having their first child at older ages but their total child- bearing period has shortened, with families of four or more children now being more unusual. The number of women with no children has also increased from 8% to 12%, and 20% of women currently in their early child-bearing years will remain childless, even though a recent survey stated that only 8% of surveyed women without children definitely did not want children. This rate reflects the increasing pursuit of freedom and autonomy, education pressures and the increased participation of women in Australia's workforce with fertility being lowest among university-qualified women.