Australia Yearbook - 2001

382 Year Book Australia 2001
C6.15 PROPORTION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN REPORTING THEIR ALCOHOL INTAKE(a), By Age—1984
and 1987
Males
Females
1984
1987
1984
1987
Age group
%
%
%
%
12 years 42 30 23 20
13 years 46 43 36 36
14 years 54 53 51 52
15 years 66 68 65 67
16 years 75 75 74 76
17 years 80 80 77 80
(a) “Occasional, light, party or heavy” drinking.
Source: Hill, White et al. 1990.
The marriage rate reflects the prevailing
economic and social conditions. It increased in
times of prosperity such as the early 1900s, rose
before each world war, fell during it and rose
again after it, and fell in times of adversity such as
in the 1930s during the Depression. It rose again
around the time of the Viet Nam war. Over the
last 20 years marriage rates have fallen, and age at
first marriage and age at first birth have increased
dramatically (graph C6.16). In contrast divorce
rates rose in the 1970s, stabilised in the 1980s and
have increased slightly through the 1990s.
Coincident with the fall in marriage rates, there
has been an increase in de facto relationships,
which have become more socially acceptable in
the last 20 years, even if children are involved.
The proportion of births which are ex-nuptial has
risen from around 6% in 1901 to 29% in 1998
(graph C6.17); at least half of these births are
to women in de facto relationships.
The median age at first marriage was around
27 years for males and 24 for females in the
1920s, remained high during the 1930s
Depression years and fell dramatically after
1940. It continued to fall until around 1975
when, associated with marked changes in the
professional and social development of
women, age at marriage increased again to
levels similar or even higher than those seen
in 1920s. Age of mothers at first birth closely
mirrors the trend for age of mothers at first
marriage (graphs C6.18 and C6.19).
C6.16 CRUDE MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE RATES, Australia(a)—1901 to 1998
Rate(b)
Marriage 12.5
Divorce(c)
0.0
1901 1911 1922 1933 1944 1954 1965 1976 1987 1998
(a) Excludes full-blood Aborigines prior to 1966. (b) Rate per 1,000 population.
(c) The peak is due to the introduction of the Family Law Act in 1976.
Source: Marriage registrations; divorce registrations.
10.0
7.5
5.0
2.5