Census findings from University of Waikato - Families
Attached are some briefs from the 2013 Census compiled by the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis at the University of Waikato for your consideration.
[Document: No._2_NIDEA_Briefs_Families__Mervyl_McPherson_FINAL2.pdf]
Families in the census
The broad definition of families
in the census is not dependent on the presence or the age of
children in the family. It includes couples without children
and at least one parent with unpartnered children living at
home, without children of their own. This could, then,
include an elderly parent and adult child. Using this
definition New Zealand families in 2013 were equally split
between couples without children and couples with children,
with one parent families making up just 18% (Figure 1).
More commonly we are concerned with families with
dependent children, that is, children aged under 18 not
employed full-time and living at home with a parent or
parents. In this case, couples without dependent children
make up almost half (48%) of all families (Figure 2). When
just families with dependent children are considered, one
parent families make up 27%, and two parent families 73%
(Table 1). This means almost three out of four families with
dependent children are two parent families.
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