That’s according to the the 13th Melbourne Institute Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.
More broadly, the number of renters has also leapt as housing affordability has worsened, according to the report’s co-author Roger Wilkins, and fewer are on an active path to home ownership.
Renting was most common among single-parent families, the report showed, while single-parent families were particularly prone to financial stress.
The report made special mention of “those living in a town or city of 100,000 or more people, single-parent and single-person households, those with a child with a disability, people with a household member in poor general health and/or in poor mental health, and renters in the private rental market”.
In 2005, couple parents spent an average of $67 per child on child care, while single-parent families spent $39. Now, childcare costs per child have increased to $122 for couple families and $81 for single-parent families.
“This translates to an 81 per cent increase for couple parents and a 108 per cent increase for single parents,” the report stated.
Demographics Group director of research Simon Kuestenmacher said the report’s findings were not surprising.
Mr Kuestenmacher said a large part of the perennial affordability problem came down to the dual issues of wanting baby boomers to build assets and wanting young people to buy a place to live.
“In Australia you can’t have both,” he said.
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