Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 8—Housing 309
Young single households
Young lone person households are relatively few
in number. In 1997–98 these households
numbered 334,300. The majority of young singles
under the age of 35 are still living with their
parent(s) and many others are sharing houses. It
is estimated that in 1997–98 there were 258,600
households with related and unrelated young
singles.
The high cost of living alone is probably one of
the deciding factors in the choice of shared
housing for the young. For young singles living
alone in 1997–98, 57% were living in private
rental accommodation, with average weekly
housing costs of $124. This constituted an
average of 26% of gross weekly income for these
households. An additional 28% of these young
single households had embarked on home
purchase and were paying off a mortgage. Their
average housing costs were higher at $202 per
week or 30% of gross weekly income.
Couples only, under 35 years
Young couple households were more likely to
have moved into home purchase than their single
counterparts. Of the 353,100 young couple only
households in 1997–98, about 189,000 or 54%
were paying off a mortgage. Their average weekly
housing costs were $261, 21% of gross weekly
income. An additional 40% of young couple
households were renting from private landlords
and paying an average of $173 per week (17% of
gross weekly income).
Couple households with dependent
children only
The trend to home purchase increases as couples
become parents and raise their children. In
1997–98, 54% of couples with dependent
children only were paying off a mortgage and 25%
were owners without a mortgage. Over one-fifth
were still renting their accommodation, mainly
from private landlords. Average weekly housing
costs varied for different types of tenure. Of
couple households with dependent children only,
those with mortgages had average weekly
housing costs of $214 or 19% of gross weekly
income. Those without a mortgage had average
weekly housing costs of $27. Households renting
from private landlords were paying $181 per
week or 20% of gross weekly income.
Lone parent households
In 1997–98, 15% of one-parent households
owned their homes without a mortgage, 24%
were still paying off a mortgage and 61% were
renting their accommodation. Compared to most
other households, a high proportion of
one-parent households (22%) were renting from
a State housing authority.
Housing costs for one-parent households ranged
from an average of $21 per week for owners
without a mortgage to a high of $162 for owners
with a mortgage. For those households with a
mortgage, housing costs constituted an average
of 24% of gross weekly income. Of the lone
parent households renting, those renting from
private landlords paid an average of $136 or 32%
of gross weekly income, while those renting from
State housing authorities paid an average of $62
or 17% of gross weekly income.
Incomes also varied considerably across
one-parent households, mainly reflecting their
different attachments to the labour force. Owners
paying off a mortgage tended to have higher
average weekly incomes than those in other
tenancy arrangements, $680 compared to $432
for those renting from a private landlord and
$361 for those renting from a State housing
authority.
Early retirement years—ages 55 to 64
The need to accommodate dependent children
has ceased by the time many parents reach their
mid-fifties. Some older couples (420,700 in
1997–98) have only non-dependent children
present, and a smaller number of them (369,400
in 1997–98) were again living alone.
The wide disparity in income for couple only
families in this age group is clear from the fact
that, while the mean weekly household income
was $718, around 50% of these households had
an income of less than $524 (median income).
Almost 77% of couple only families, where the
reference person was aged 55–64, were owners
without a mortgage. Their housing payments
were low at an average of $21 per week, 3% of
total household income. About 17% of the
households were owners with a mortgage, and
both this group, and those who were renting,
were paying substantially higher proportions of
their income in housing payments, 18% in both
cases.
Older households
By the traditional retirement age of 65 years, both
incomes and housing payments have been greatly
reduced. In 1997–98, 90% of older couple
households were owners without a mortgage,
with average weekly housing costs of $18 or 4%