CANBERRA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Economic pressures are driving Australia's divorce rate to its lowest point in 50 years, as financial pressures, not stronger relationships, are largely behind the trend.
"Australians are marrying and divorcing less and having fewer children amid increasing economic insecurity. It's emblematic of deep and complex social change," said Liz Allen, a demographer at the Australian National University (ANU) Center for Social Research and Methods.
Australia recorded 2.1 divorces per 1,000 adults in 2024 -- the lowest rate since no-fault divorce began in 1975, Allen wrote Monday on ANU Reporter, citing the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Divorces now occur later, men at 47 and women at 44, with marriages lasting nearly a year longer before separation than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Allen said, adding the marriage rate has fallen to 5.5 per 1,000, less than half the 1971 level, as more couples cohabit.
Australia's fertility rate has dropped to a record low of 1.5 births per woman, while the proportion of women who never have children has nearly doubled since 1981, as economic insecurity, housing stress, and rising child-rearing costs force many to delay or abandon family plans, she said.
With even simple divorces costing over 10,000 Australian dollars (about 6,521 U.S. dollars), Allen said some couples opt for "birdnesting," keeping children in the family home while parents rotate, or "living apart together," common among parents raising children, while in some cases ex-partners share a home because separate living is unaffordable, heightening tensions.
"Cost-of-living pressures are increasingly denying couples much-wanted families and making it more difficult for families to thrive, divorced or not," she added. Enditem
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