More than half of Australians between 18 and 24 years of age have not yet left home, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says.
Australians in the next age group, 25-34 years old, are more likely to have left, but an estimated 17 per cent still have not left the nest.
The ABS' Multi-Purpose Household Survey used targeted questions and the results were used to make national estimates.
The proportion of people aged 18-34 years who never left home was a total of 31 per cent in 2012-13, compared to the 2006-07 figure of 27 per cent.
“Young people are staying at home largely for financial reasons and when the do leave home, the main reason is for independence,” CEO of Families Australia, Brian Babington, said.
“I think it’s largely down to economics these days.
“I think it is costly for young people to find accommodation that they can afford.”
Australians who have never left home
Based on the Multi-Purpose Household Survey, ABS
| Ages | 18-24 | 25-34 | 18-34 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 47% | 14% | 27% |
| 2012-13 | 53% | 17% | 31% |
On many fronts, Australian families were not changing much, Mr Babington said.
"But there are some other important things that the data tells us."
He said some families were waiting longer to have children.
"Compared with six years ago, what we see is the higher proportion of couples who don’t have children when the female partner is aged over 35," Mr Babington said.
While some numbers on Australian families have not changed much in recent years, the latest data provides a snapshot of families across the nation.
Australia, 2012-13
- 8.9 million households
- 73 per cent of those were family households, including couples without children
- 23 per cent were lone people
- More women than men live alone
- An estimated 909,000 families (14 per cent) were single parent families
- Most of those were families with a single female parent
The Australian Demographic & Social Research Institute was contacted for comment, but were unavailable.
