Australian Statistics

Introduction

This page links to the current online resources available to explore Australian population and birth data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has detailed demographical information about the Australian population.

Over the last 30 years there has been a decrease in teenage women having children, with most women now have children when they are older (28-31 age), but older women (40+) are also decreasing. The births text excerpt below is an analysis of birth trends this century in Australia from Australia Now (ABS).

A separate body, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Perinatal Statistics Unit, also keeps accurate Australia-wide statistics on birth related issues including assisted reproductive technologies and major congenital malformations in Australia.

Undergraduate medical discussion of this data occurs in the BGD Tutorial - Applied Embryology and Teratology.

Historic Birth Data

In 1903, when the crude birth rate was lower than it had ever been before, the Royal Commission On the Decline in the Birth-rate and On the Mortality of Infants in New South Wales was appointed. It reported in 1904 and concluded that '...the cause or causes of the Decline of the Birth-rate must be a force or forces over which the people themselves have control...'. In other words, couples were limiting the size of their families.

At the turn of the century there were 117 births per 1,000 women of child bearing age (15-44 years). This approximates a total fertility rate of 3.5 babies per woman. By 1924 the total fertility rate was 3.0 and falling.

In 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression, the total fertility rate fell to 2.1 babies per woman. It then increased during the second half of the Depression, as women who had deferred childbearing in the early years of the Depression began to have children. Fertility increased through World War II and the 1950s, and peaked in 1961 when the total fertility rate reached 3.6 babies per woman. This period of high fertility is known as the baby boom (see graph 5.28).

After the 1961 peak, the total fertility rate fell rapidly, to 2.9 babies per woman by 1966. This fall can be attributed to changing social attitudes, in particular a change in people's perception of desired family size, facilitated by the contraceptive pill becoming available.

During the 1970s the total fertility rate dropped again, falling to below replacement level in 1976 where it has remained since. This fall was more marked than the fall in the early 1960s and has been linked to the increasing participation of women in the labour force, coupled with changing attitudes to family size, standard of living and lifestyle choices.

Women are starting childbearing later in life, and are having fewer children. In 1966, peak fertility was among 25 year old women, with 21% having babies. By 1996, peak fertility was among 29 year old women, but only 13% had babies. Primarily because fewer women are having large families, the proportion of all women having babies after they turn 40 has fallen (see graph 5.29).

In the last 30 years, there has been a fall in the proportion of births to teenage mothers, from 11.3% of all births in 1966 to 4.9% in 1996. The number of babies born to mothers aged 40 years or over has also fallen, from 2.6% in 1966 to 2.1% in 1996.

Excerpt from Australia Now (ABS)

External Links

External Links Notice - The dynamic nature of the internet may mean that some of these listed links may no longer function. If the link no longer works search the web with the link text or name. Links to any external commercial sites are provided for information purposes only and should never be considered an endorsement. UNSW Embryology is provided as an educational resource with no clinical information or commercial affiliation.

Australian Bureau of Statistics http://www.abs.gov.au
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) http://www.aihw.gov.au | publications

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Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, May 6) Embryology Australian Statistics. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Australian_Statistics

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