Current Issues Brief no.4 2003-04
Labour Force Status
of Families: Electorate Rankings
Tony Kryger
Statistics Group
1 December 2003
Contents
Introduction
Main Features
Couple families with children aged under 15 years
1 Couple families in which both spouses
are employed
2 Couple families in which neither
spouse is employed
3 Unemployed couple families
Single parent families with children aged under 15
years
4 Single parent families in which the
parent is not employed
5 Unemployed single parent families
Children aged under 15 years
6 Children living in families in which
no parent is employed
7 Children living in families in which
one parent is unemployed and the other parent (if present) is either unemployed
or not in the labour force
Unemployed Women
8 Unemployed women with no children
aged under 15 years
9 Unemployed women with children aged
under 15 years
10 Unemployed wives with unemployed husbands
11 Unemployed wives with employed husbands
This paper provides an analysis by Commonwealth
Electoral Division of certain labour force characteristics of families
from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. The paper seeks to measure
the extent of labour market disadvantage experienced by families by providing
a basis on which to make comparisons between electorates.
Data for each labour force characteristic has been presented
in two tables. The first table lists each electoral division alphabetically
and shows the value of the characteristic. The second table ranks each
electoral division on the relative value of the characteristic, usually
expressed as a percentage of total.
While it is the case that electorates ranked poorly on
one characteristic tend also to be ranked poorly on other characteristics,
this is not always the case. For example, a high unemployment rate for
couple families is not always associated with a high unemployment rate
for single parent families. Similarly, a high unemployment rate for women
with children doesnt always correspond to a high unemployment rate for
women without children. By comparing electorate rankings across a range
of different characteristics, it is therefore possible to gain a better
perspective on the degree and type of labour market disadvantage experienced
in each electorate.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a family
as 'two or more persons, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who
are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step
or fostering; and who are usually resident in the same household. The
basis of a family is formed by identifying the presence of a couple relationship,
lone parent-child relationship or other blood relationship.' In this paper,
only family types that satisfy the first two descriptions are considered.
Insufficient information is available on the other family type to allow
an analysis of its labour force characteristics. There is also insufficient
information on the labour force status of same sex couples which are excluded
here from the definition of couple families.
The electoral boundaries used in the paper are those
applicable at the 2001 Federal Election. The political party holding each
division is that applicable as at 1
January 2003.
Some of the more interesting features of each table are
summarised below.
Table 1Couple
families with children aged under 15 years in which both spouses are employed
Ranked on the number of couple families with children
in which both the husband and wife are employed, expressed as a proportion
of all couple families with children.
The electorate with the highest proportion of both husbands
and wives who are employed is Canberra (ACT) (68.2 per cent), followed
by Mackellar (NSW) (67.7 per cent), Cook (NSW) (67.2 per cent) and Mitchell
(NSW) (66.8 per cent). Fowler (NSW) has the lowest proportion (33.8 per
cent) and is significantly behind the next lowest electorate of Reid (NSW)
(37.3 per cent).
The Australian average is 56.5 per cent.
Table 2Couple
families with children aged under 15 years in which neither spouse is
employed
Ranked on the number of couple families with children
in which neither the husband nor the wife is employed, expressed as a
proportion of all couple families with children.
The electorate with the highest proportion of cases in
which neither the husband nor wife is employed is Fowler (NSW) at 25.8
per cent. High proportions were also recorded in the electorates of Lingiari
(NT) (21.9 per cent), Reid (NSW) (21.7 per cent) and Blaxland (NSW) (20.0
per cent). At the other end of the rankings scale, the electorate with
the lowest proportion is Mackellar (NSW) at 2.5 per cent.
The Australian average is 8.5 per cent.
Table 3Unemployed
couple families with children aged under 15 years
An unemployed couple family is one in which one spouse
is unemployed and the other spouse is either unemployed or not in the
labour force. The unemployment rate for a couple family with children
is defined as the number of unemployed couple families with children,
expressed as a proportion of the total number of couple families with
children in which at least one spouse is in the labour force.
The unemployment rate for couple families with children
ranges from one per cent or less in Mackellar (NSW), Hughes (NSW), Mitchell
(NSW) and Cook (NSW) to 8.8 per cent in Cowper (NSW), 8.9 per cent in
Reid (NSW) and rising abruptly to 11.4 per cent in Fowler (NSW).
The Australian average is 3.6 per cent.
Table 4Single
parent families with children aged under 15 years in which the parent
is not employed
Ranked on the number of not employed single parents with
children, expressed as a proportion of all single parents with children.
There are 103 (out of 150) electorates in which more
than half the single parents with children in the electorate are not employed.
The proportion is lowest in Mackellar (NSW) (29.3 per cent), North Sydney
(NSW) (31.4 per cent) and Kooyong (Vic) (31.9 per cent) and highest in
Fowler (NSW) (76.0 per cent), Bonython (SA) (69.2 per cent) and Chifley
(NSW) (68.2 per cent).
The Australian average is 54.6 per cent.
Table 5Unemployed
single parent families with children aged under 15 years
Ranked on the unemployment rate for a single parent family
with children, defined as the number of unemployed single parents with
children, expressed as a proportion of the total number of single parents
in the labour force with children.
In 32 electorates out of a total of 150, the unemployment
rate for single parent families with children is above 20 per cent. The
unemployment rate is highest in Fowler (NSW) (27.8 per cent), followed
by Longman (Qld) (25.7 per cent) and Braddon (Tas) (25.1 per cent). It
is lowest in Bradfield (NSW) (5.7 per cent).
The Australian average is 16.5 per cent.
Table 6Children
aged under 15 years living in families in which no parent is employed
Ranked on the number of children living in families (couple
or single parent) in which no parent is employed, expressed as a proportion
of the total number of children aged under 15 years.
There are (as at the 2001 Census) 761 087 children
under the age of 15 years living in families in which no parent has a
job. The electorate with the highest proportion of children in this situation
is Fowler (NSW) (40.3 per cent) followed by Bonython (SA) (33.0 per cent)
and Reid (NSW) (32.2 per cent). There are 18 electorates in which the
proportion falls below 10 per cent; the lowest ranking electorate is Mitchell
(NSW) (5.4 per cent).
The Australian average is 18.5 per cent.
Table 7Children
aged under 15 years living in families in which one parent is unemployed
and the other parent (if present) is either unemployed or not in the labour
force
Ranked on the number of children living in families (couple
or single parent) in which one parent is unemployed and the other parent
is either unemployed or not in the labour force, expressed as a proportion
of the total number of children aged under 15 years.
A total of 188 380 children aged under 15 years
are living in families where no parent is working but at least one parent
wants a job. In the electorate of Fowler (NSW), almost one child in every
ten is living in this type of family situation. Close behind is the electorate
of Cowper (NSW) (9.3 per cent) followed by Fairfax (Qld) (8.2 per cent).
The lowest ranking electorate is Mitchell (NSW) where the corresponding
proportion is just 1.3 per cent.
The Australian average is 4.6 per cent.
Table 8Unemployed
women with no children aged under 15 years
For women with no children aged under 15 years, the unemployment
rate is defined as the number of unemployed women in the group expressed
as a proportion of the number of women in the labour force in the same
group.
The unemployment rate for women with no children ranges
from less than two per cent in Hughes (NSW), Mitchell (NSW) and Mackellar
(NSW) to a high of 13.7 per cent in Fowler (NSW). The rate for Fowler
is significantly higher than for any other electorate, the next highest
ranking electorates being Cowper (NSW) at 8.1 per cent and Reid (NSW)
at 7.6 per cent.
The Australian average is 3.9 per cent.
Table 9Unemployed
women with children aged under 15 years
For women with children aged under 15 years, the unemployment
rate is defined as the number of unemployed women in the group expressed
as a proportion of the number of women in the labour force in the same
group.
The unemployment rate for women with children ranges
from 2.8 per cent in Bradfield (NSW) to 17.5 per cent in Fowler (NSW).
In every electorate, the unemployment rate for women with children is
higher than it is for women without children. The average rate difference
is 2.7 percentage points but is much larger than this in electorates where
the unemployment rate for women with children is already quite high. For
example, in electorates such as Longman (Qld), Rankin (Qld) and Bonython
(SA), the rate difference is more than five percentage points.
The Australian average rate of unemployment for women
with children is 6.7 per cent
Table
10Unemployed women with an unemployed husband
For women with an unemployed husband, the unemployment
rate is defined as the number of unemployed women in the group expressed
as a proportion of the number of women in the labour force in the same
group.
In the electorate of Fowler (NSW), the unemployment rate
for women with an unemployed husband is almost 68 per cent. Five other
electorates with an unemployment rate of over 50 per cent are Prospect
(NSW) (50.2 per cent), Mallee (Vic) (50.7 per cent), Bonython (SA) (52.2
per cent), Maribyrnong (Vic) (56.0 per cent) and Gellibrand (Vic) (59.6
per cent).
The significance of this table (and Table 11 below) is
that it highlights the tendency for unemployment to be entrenched in certain
family types. Hence, a woman is far more likely to be unemployed if her
husband also is unemployed than if her husband is in a job.
The Australian average rate of unemployment for women
with an unemployed husband is 36.0 per cent.
Table
11Unemployed women with an employed husband
For women with an employed husband, the unemployment
rate is defined as the number of unemployed women in the group expressed
as a proportion of the number of women in the labour force in the same
group.
The unemployment rate for women with an employed husband
is a fraction of the corresponding rate for women with an unemployed husband.
The highest rate is 7.2 per cent in the electorate of Fowler (NSW) followed
by Reid (NSW) at 5.2 per cent. In every other electorate the rate is below
5 per cent and in over two-thirds of all electorates it is below 3 per
cent.
The Australian average is 2.6 per cent.
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