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The Guardian
12 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
Australia's divorce rate is lowest on record and marriages are lasting longer, according to ABS data
Divorce rates are the lowest on record and marriages are lasting longer, according to new data that reflects an increasingly selective approach to marriage and the ongoing effects of the Covid pandemic. The Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2024 marriages and divorces figures, released on Wednesday, reflect a downward trajectory of both marriage and divorce rates over the past two decades. But within the data lies a case for romance: while fewer people were getting married, marriages were both lasting longer and less likely to end in divorce. In 2004, the marriage rate – measured per 1,000 residents over the age of 16 – was 7.1. Twenty years later, in 2024, the rate was 5.5, the same as the year before. Last year, Australia's divorce rate was 2.1, down from 2.3 in 2023. The number of divorces fell 3% from 2023 to 2024. Meanwhile, marriages lasted for a median of 13.2 years – up from 12.1 in 2020 and 13 last year. At the same time, we're marrying and getting divorced later in life. In 2024, the median marriage age was 32.8 years for men and 31.2 for women. The median age for men to divorce was 47.1 years, while for women it was 44.1. And, while younger couples were divorcing less, divorces in the above 60 age category were rising. Sign up: AU Breaking News email There were 2% more marriages in 2024 compared to the year before – a figure that doubled to 4.1% for couples of the same or non-binary gender. More same-sex female couples were married and divorced than male couples, while same-sex and non-binary divorces were slightly up from 1.4% of all divorces in 2023 to 1.6% in 2024. Steep declines then a spike in marriage rates from 2020 to 2022 were a direct impact of Covid restrictions, while the pandemic saw a spike in divorce rates in 2021. Lauren Moran, the head of health and vital statistics at the ABS, said the changing divorce rate was 'a complex picture' but '2024 saw the lowest divorce rate recorded'. She said divorce rates were heavily impacted by court administrative processes and that while the number of divorces granted was between 47,000 and 50,000 a year in recent years, fewer marriages meant there were fewer divorces. 'We are seeing declining divorce rates in younger couples, but increasing divorce rates in older couples. When marriages decreased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic, the largest decreases were in marriages of younger people,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Older couples were more likely to have a longer marriage, which impacted the median length of marriage, she said. She said there was 'no clear pattern in same-gender divorce rates yet' and that the increases were 'small numbers'. Dr Jan Kabatek, a senior research fellow the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, said the declining divorce rate reflected a more selective approach to marriage. 'Fewer people are getting married and the people who are getting married are usually the ones who are more committed, either through religion or because they are older and more experienced,' he said. He said the pandemic continued to contribute to a lower divorce rate. 'The people who might have got divorced in 2023/2024 already got divorced during Covid,' he said. 'If a lot of people call it quits in 2021, the couples who survived later also have longer marriage durations. Fundamentally, the pool of people who remain married has changed.' He also commented on the most popular day to marry, according to the ABS: 1,773 marriages took place on 24/02/2024. His own research on marriages on 'specifically pleasing dates' found those unions were 25% more likely to end in divorce. The statistics align with an Australian Institute of Family Studies report that in February found the divorce rate had in 2023 fallen to its lowest level since the implementation of the 1975 Family Law Act.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘We should be worried': From peanuts to paper, Australia's manufacturing industry is in crisis
Australia no longer makes much of anything at all — and the few industries we do have left are rapidly circling the drain. From cars and steel to clothing, paper, glass and now even peanut butter, the long decline of Australia's domestic manufacturing industry seemingly claims a new casualty every other week. The numbers behind the headlines are stark. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in the year to June 2024, 5136 established manufacturing businesses — meaning those which had been in operation for at least five years — closed down. National employer association the Australian Industry Group warns more up-to-date numbers will be even more dire. 'Australian manufacturing as a sector slipped into recession last year and is one of the weakest performing industries in Australia today,' AI Group chief executive Innes Willox said in a statement. AI Group on Tuesday released new research highlighting the dire situation faced by Australian manufacturing as a result of 'soaring energy and input costs, skills shortages, trade risks and productivity'. 'Australian manufacturing and its almost one million employees face deepening risks unless urgent economy-wide reforms are undertaken to return the industry to growth and boost its falling productivity,' Mr Willox said. 'We should be worried. Manufacturing directly employs 930,000 people, generating over 12 per cent of our exports and 8 per cent of capex investment despite being only 5 per cent of GDP.' Mr Willox said cost pressures on the sector were 'excessive', with input prices having risen 37 per cent in the five years since the pandemic, outstripping inflation of 22 per cent. 'They are paying 48 per cent more for gas than they were in 2019, threatening the viability of energy-intensive branches of manufacturing,' he said. 'We are seeing an increase in plant closures or reduced activity in key economic sectors due to energy cost pressures.' Skills shortages are also taking a toll, with 61 per cent of trades and technician roles in the country currently difficult to fill. Trades account for 28 per cent of the manufacturing workforce. 'We also need to urgently address declining productivity in manufacturing,' Mr Willox said. 'Labour productivity in the sector has declined by 3.7 per cent over the past decade and overall productivity is down by 1 per cent. The malaise of declining productivity makes it harder for employers to deliver sustainable wage increases, and it weakens our international competitiveness at the very time trade disputes are under extra competitive pressure.' Treasurer Jim Chalmers will host an economic reform roundtable in Canberra next month bringing together political, corporate, union and community leaders. Mr Willox said the gathering would be an opportunity to 'begin a clear reform path around the issues of energy, workforce, productivity and international competitiveness'. AI Group has previously warned Australia's 'unsustainable' taxpayer-funded jobs boom is masking critical weakness in private sector employment. Nearly one in five workers in Australia is a government employee. Last year, 80 per cent of all new jobs created were either in the public service or the 'non-market' sector — government-funded industries like education or healthcare, largely through the ballooning National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Here are some of the victims of Australia's manufacturing crisis. Peanut butter Last week, Bega Group announced the closure of the 100-year-old Peanut Company of Australia (PCA), blaming 'sustained financial pressure' and ongoing annual losses of $5-10 million. PCA and its predecessors have been based in the Queensland town of Kingaroy, dubbed the Peanut Capital of Australia, since 1924. A phased shutdown of PCA's facilities in Kingaroy and Tolga will take place over the next 18 months, with up to 150 jobs at risk. Bega acquired PCA in 2017 but said it had 'not been able to establish a sustainable business model' despite a 12-month strategic review and several attempts to sell the business. The company said the shutdown comes amid growing challenges in the Australian peanut industry, including import competition, rising costs, falling production and better returns from alternative crops. South Burnett Mayor Kathy Duff said it was a 'sad day' and 'devastating news for our region'. 'It has rocked our community, as Kingaroy is the home of peanuts and the silos are an iconic part of the region's history — that is why they are heritage listed,' she said. Bega said it would continue to operate facilities in Crestmead and Malanda, along with its existing distribution network in Queensland. Cars Nearly a century of car manufacturing in Australia officially came to an end in October 2017 with the closure of Holden's Elizabeth factory near Adelaide, following Toyota and Ford out the door. Mitsubishi had already closed its Australian plants in 2004 and 2008. High local costs and rising competition from cheap imports made Australia's car industry unsustainable, and the refusal of the federal government to continue propping up manufacturers with millions of dollars in subsidies was the final nail in the coffin. Then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull insisted it was simply due to 'changes in market taste' towards SUVs and small cars, and denied the federal government was to blame. 'People stopped buying the sedans being made in Australia,' he said. 'The manufacturers who've progressively closed their operations in Australia have made it clear it's not because of a failure of government subsidies.' The car industry had argued that no country could sustain an automotive manufacturing base without some combination of tax incentives, import tariffs or government assistance. 'The Australian market is too small and the industry cannot fully exploit economies of scale,' Professor Abbas Valadkhani from Swinburne University of Technology wrote in 2016. 'It is very difficult to compete when labour costs in some Asian countries are only one-fourth of that of Australia.' Tyres Bridgestone, Australia's last tyre manufacturer, finally rolled out the door in 2010 after 45 years. The Japanese tyre giant blamed the closure of its Australian and New Zealand factories on 'international competitive forces' that had made the operations 'no longer viable'. Around 600 jobs were lost at the Adelaide plant, with another 275 in Christchurch. 'As the last tyre manufacturer in Australia and New Zealand, we have all worked hard over many years to avoid today's decision,' former Bridgestone Australia senior executive director Andrew Moffatt said at the time. 'However, the unfortunate reality is that Bridgestone Australia Ltd. can no longer commercially justify the continued operation of these facilities. We are proud of the fact that we have managed to keep these two manufacturing facilities open for so long and have provided employment and economic benefits to so many people over such a long period.' US-based Goodyear had announced the closure of its last Melbourne factory, South Pacific Tyres, two years earlier. The company also blamed Australia's high costs, saying the move would save it around $US35 million ($54 million) a year. 'Going forward, our efforts will be focused on increasing production of high-value-added tyres in low-cost operations to support growth in these segments in Asia-Pacific markets, including Australia and New Zealand,' Goodyear chairman and chief executive Robert J. Keegan said at the time. Glass Oceania Glass, Australia's last manufacturer of architectural glass, collapsed into insolvency earlier this year after posting a $1.2 million annual loss. The Melbourne-based company had supplied glass for homes and offices since 1856. 'Our glass is featured in many of Australia's most iconic buildings, including the Australian Parliament House,' its website noted. Oceania Glass, which employed 260 people, had previously complained to the federal government's Anti-Dumping Commission it was unable to compete with cheaper imports from China and Thailand, after tariffs were removed during the pandemic. Australian Workers' Union Victorian secretary Ronnie Hayden warned in February that there would be a 'tsunami of cheap products dumped in Australia' if the commission took too long to investigate complaints. 'If we don't give the Anti-Dumping Commission more powers and more resources, then we are not going to be ready to deal with this, and there'll be a lot more factories closing down in the future,' Mr Hayden told the Herald Sun. 'It's glass but it's also like steel will be next. The steel industry are on the knees with the amount of steel that's been brought into the country, when we know we can make it here.' Clothes Australia once had a thriving clothing and apparel manufacturing sector, but those jobs have long since moved overseas to factories in Asia with only a handful of niche or specialist producers remaining. The dismantling of Australia's protectionist tariff system beginning in the 1980s all but wiped out local industry, resulting in thousands of job losses as iconic names like Pacific Brands' Bonds and Berlei closed down their factories one by one. In 1985, the textile industry employed 20,300 people while clothing and footwear manufacturing supported 71,900 jobs, according to the ABS. At the time, imports only accounted for 25 per cent of the clothing sold in Australia. Today, local manufacturing employs fewer than 1000 workers, and less than 5 per cent of Australian clothing is made in the country. 'Over the past decades, clothing and textiles manufacturing has declined to around 1.5 per cent of Australia's manufacturing output, as activities have been offshored to countries with cheap labour,' the Australian Fashion Council (AFC) said in a 2022 report. 'However, with increased automation, clothing and textiles can become more capital intensive, positioning Australia as a potential textiles manufacturing powerhouse, particularly for high-quality goods.' The peak body noted that as a result of Covid, many Australian brands were 'now looking to manufacture locally to deliver vertical, sustainable and de-risked supply chains'. Paper Australia no longer makes its own white paper. Opal Australian Paper, a subsidiary of Japanese paper giant Nippon, was forced to cease white paper production at its Maryvale mill in Victoria's Latrobe Valley in December 2022, leading to 200 job losses. The company had been devastated by court decision a month earlier which crippled its ability to make paper. Government-owned timber business VicForests lost a Supreme Court case which found it was not doing enough to protect endangered wildlife including two possum species, forcing it to scale back timber harvesting in parts of rural Victoria. VicForests was a massive supplier for Opal Australian Paper and the company was unable to find a suitable replacement to continue producing white paper. Opal announced a further 220 job cuts across Australia and New Zealand last year. In a memo to staff obtained by the ABC, the company blamed 'a series of unplanned challenges' including Covid and rising energy costs, as well as 'market disruptions' from the cessation of white paper production that were 'continuing to severely impact Opal's financial performance'. The Maryvale mill, one of the Latrobe Valley's largest employers, still manufactures brown paper products. Steel The Whyalla wipe-out may still arrive, just a few years later than forecast. Australia's $29 billion steel industry is effectively on life support, after decades of decline in the face of rising costs and competition from Asian producers. BHP's Newcastle Steelworks, which opened in 1914 and employed up to 16,000 people at its peak, closed in 1999 in what was, at the time, the biggest-ever blow to Australian industry. While the broader industry employs some 110,000 workers, today there are just two steel producers, BlueScope's Port Kembla plant in NSW and the troubled Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia. Whyalla was built by BHP in 1941, spun off as OneSteel in 2000 and renamed Arrium in 2012. It collapsed into administration in 2016 before being rescued by British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance in 2017, but promised upgrades to the plant did not eventuate. The South Australian government again forced the Whyalla Steelworks into administration in February, citing concerns about underinvestment by GFG and the plant's financial viability. Administrators KordaMentha revealed in March the steelworks was losing $1.5 million a day, totalling $319 million in the seven months to January, before its collapse leaving $1.34 billion in debts. A sale process is currently underway, with reports BlueScope has been granted a rare right-of-last refusal in the deal. BlueScope, the country's largest steelmaker, was last year handed nearly $140 million by the federal government to upgrade its Port Kembla plant, as part of a $200 million rescue package that included $63 million for Whyalla. In 2017, a parliamentary inquiry into the future of Australia's steel industry warned that rising power prices were affecting the viability of steel and other energy-intensive industries. 'The committee is concerned that without remedial measures and a tenable bipartisan plan to reduce energy costs, the future of the Australian steel industry remains in doubt,' the report said. Plastics Australia's largest plastics maker, Qenos, collapsed into administration last year, blaming multimillion-dollar losses amid soaring gas prices. The Chinese-owned chemical manufacturer produced plastic resin products extensively used across household and industrial packaging. Qenos employed 700 people and operated plants at Altona in Melbourne and Botany in Sydney, which ceased operations earlier in 2023. At the time, AI Group's Mr Willox warned the decision to place Qenos into administration 'reflects the erosion of key pillars of Australia's industrial landscape — and risks causing much more'. 'A whole range of industrial and commercial products depends on the flow of resources and materials between oil and gas producers, refiners, chemicals businesses like Qenos, intermediate manufacturers of products like food and beverage packaging, and downstream users like food processors,' he said. 'Any house in Australia will have multiple polyethylene products in it. The closure of the ExxonMobil refinery in Victoria in 2021, driven by age and the pressures of the pandemic, dealt a blow to Qenos and many other businesses in the industrial ecosystem.' But Mr Willox said 'most of all, the long-term rise in natural gas prices eroded Qenos's competitiveness and its prospects'. 'Prices rose over the past decade because of the takeoff of LNG exports, the erosion of Southern gas production, and the lack of adequate planning to manage these long-foreseen developments,' he said. Other Australian plastics and chemical manufacturers have gone under or moved operations offshore in recent years. Adelaide-based wheelie bin maker Trident Plastics — one of the largest custom moulders in Australia — collapsed in 2023. Rising gas prices and increasing international competition were also cited by Dow Chemical in its decision to shut its Altona plant in 2019.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why a surprise jump in unemployment isn't as bad as it sounds
New figures show Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4.3% – its highest level since late 2021 – in June this year, up from 4.1% in May. While this is bad news, it's not as bad as it might seem. Higher unemployment came from more people looking for work. In the long run, that's good for the economy. And these figures also make it more likely we'll see an interest rate cut next month – which is now looking overdue. What's the bad news? This is the second month in a row we've seen no growth in total employment, while total hours worked (the number of hours worked by employed individuals, regardless of whether they are full-time, part-time or overtime) in the past month has gone backwards. All this adds to the picture of a slowing labour market since the start of the year, after surprisingly strong growth in the second half of 2024. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics release also includes data on where extra hours worked during 2025 have come from. Employment growth has come entirely from the 'non-market sector' – which is healthcare and social assistance, education and training, and public administration and safety. And the big driver of those extra jobs has been in social assistance and health care, which is largely government-funded. That means employment has gone backwards in the rest of the economy, adding to a picture of a jobs market being propped up by government investment in the caring economy. Why it's not as bad as you might think The reason unemployment rose is that more people were looking for work – so it's not because employment fell. Of course, we'd prefer those people to have found jobs. But it does mean people weren't losing jobs for the unemployment rate to rise. The growth in labour force participation in June continues the trend of strong growth since late 2021. In the long run, that's a good thing – it means the country can produce more output, and more people gain an income from work. An interest rate cut now looks more certain Last week, the Reserve Bank surprised most people by keeping the cash rate on hold at 3.85%. Today's unemployment data is extra evidence that the labour market isn't contributing to inflation pressure – in fact, it's the opposite. It shows an interest rate cut is now overdue. The Reserve Bank board meets again in mid-August, with a decision on rates announced on August 12. When will we know if this is a blip or a trend? One possibility is that some of the extra people who became unemployed in June have a job to go to in the next month. Ups and downs in that group have at times been influential in driving unemployment numbers in recent times. In that case, this month's figures may partly turn out to be a blip. We'll be able to tell that when we see next month's figures. But the blip is unlikely to explain all of the rise in June. This is also about a labour market that is slowing. This article is republished from The Conversation. It was written by: Jeff Borland, The University of Melbourne Read more: Interest rates are on hold at 3.85%, as the Reserve Bank opts for caution over mortgage relief Child labour numbers rise in homes where adults are jobless – South African study Gen Z is struggling to find work: 4 strategies to move forward Jeff Borland receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Job figures the fresh piece of Reserve Bank rate puzzle
The Reserve Bank will have a keen eye on fresh data on Australia's jobs market as its next decision on interest rates draws closer. Labour force figures for June will be released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and are tipped to show the unemployment rate remaining at 4.1 per cent for the month. The predictions come despite a tightening of the jobs market. The Reserve Bank would continue to closely monitor the jobless rate before its next meeting in August, NAB's head of Australian economics Gareth Spence said. "I think the focus for the RBA will be ensuring the labour market remains healthy going forward," he said. "The timing of cuts is not super important. "It's more about where do they end up." In a move that shocked analysts and disappointed mortgage holders, the RBA kept the cash rate steady at 3.85 per cent at its last board meeting on July 8. Most economists had pencilled in a 25 basis point cut on the back of slowing inflation growth. The Commonwealth Bank has forecast 20,000 jobs will have been added to the economy during June. The participation rate is also expected to stay at the previous level of 67 per cent. The unemployment rate has stayed at 4.1 per cent for the past three consecutive monthly readings. The most recent figures in May came despite employment falling by 2000 people, according to the bureau's last figures. Mr Spence still expected the jobless rate to climb to 4.4 per cent by the end of 2025, but said economic indicators point to the labour market still being in a strong position. The Reserve Bank said in its latest monetary policy decision that labour market conditions remained tight. "Measures of labour under-utilisation are at relatively low rates and business surveys and liaison suggest that availability of labour is still a constraint for a range of employers," the bank said. "Alternatively, labour market outcomes may prove stronger than expected, given the signal from a range of leading indicators."
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Figures make a mockery of Treasurer's claim
Australia is falling further behind its ambitious 1.2 million new home target, as the number of dwellings started, completed or under construction has slipped. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, 27,663 new houses were built in the March quarter, down 1.3 per cent, while new private sector housing came in at 15,190, a drop of 9.3 per cent. When combined, 43,517 homes were built in the March quarter, down by 4 per cent on the December quarter. Last year, the federal government set an ambitious 1.2 million new-home target in five years under the National Housing Accord. In order to achieve this, Australia needs to build 60,000 homes a quarter. In brighter news, there was a 14 per cent lift in new houses started in March to 47,645. Property Council group executive policy and advocacy Matthew Kandelaars said Wednesday's data was further proof Australia needed to be building more homes. 'Progress against our housing targets was never going to be linear, but we've reached the point where we need to hit housing delivery in top gear just to keep pace, let alone get ahead,' Mr Kandelaars said. 'Official data on completions for the March 2025 quarter, nine months into the National Housing Accord, show we're running 18,147 homes behind target. 'It takes more than a year to build a home and more than three years to build an apartment project. Yet another quarter of poor numbers means more disappointment for future homebuyers and renters.' The data comes days after partially unredacted files were released to the ABC through a freedom of information request showing that Australia's National Housing Accord would 'not be met'. While Labor has committed to building 1.2 million well-located homes in the five years to June 30, 2029, the target is already 55,300 homes behind following its first year of operation. Despite the slow start, Treasurer Jim Chalmers backed Labor's ability to reach the target, adding that he was 'pretty relaxed' about the accidental FOI slip. 'Under current trajectories, we would fall short, but that doesn't mean that between now and over the course of the next four years that we can't consider ways and work with the states and territories and others, local governments and others, on ways to build more homes,' he told reporters on Monday. 'It's not the worst thing from time to time for it to be understood in the broader community that this will be a difficult target to meet. 'But if we all do our bit, we all play our part, as the Commonwealth has been willing to play, then we can build the homes that people desperately need.' Acting Coalition housing spokesman James Paterson said the advice from Treasury 'confirmed what Australians already know'. 'Labor will fail to build the 1.2 million new homes they promised,' he said. 'Under the former Coalition government, Australia built an average of 190,000 new homes per year. Under Labor, that figure has dropped to barely 170,000. To meet their own housing target, Labor needs to build 250,000 new homes annually. 'Instead of building housing, Labor are obsessed with building housing bureaucracies.' Mr Kandelaars said the nation's property industry remained ready to deliver but was being held back by settings that deter investment, slow approvals, high development costs and post-approval roadblocks. 'We're building homes half as fast as we were 30 years ago. That's not just a housing issue but a productivity problem,' Mr Kandelaars said. 'Next month's Economic Reform Roundtable hosted by the Treasurer is a chance to put housing delivery at the heart of the national productivity agenda, which means getting investment settings right and focusing on better, smarter and more efficient planning and environmental approvals.' Sign in to access your portfolio
