Sole Parent Families

Statistics Australia now has over 500,000 sole parent families. In the past 25 years the percentage of sole parent families has doubled from 9% (1975) to over 22% (2006).

Poverty Sole parenthood and poverty are firmly linked. Sole parent families are heavily over-represented in low income households. They are consistently far more likely to live in poverty than other family types.

Money Sole parents have an income – 3 times less than that of couple families. Nearly half of all sole parents (48%) said they would be unable to raise $2000 a week for something important.

Children & Stress Children in sole parent families have access to fewer economic resources and are more likely to experience direct physical and material deprivation. 41% of sole parent families exhibited high stress. 32% showed moderate stress. Sole parents are more likely to experience hardship.

General Living 10% of sole parents reported going without meals. The poverty of sole parents extends past monetary income into other areas, such as housing. Sole parents are less likely to own or be buying their own house. 50% of sole parents rent their accommodation compared to 20% of couple families.