Parenting

Mums as main breadwinners on the rise

Mums as main breadwinners on the rise

One in four Australian households now have a female as their major breadwinner, leaving blokes to take over the primary parenting role.

Dads play Mr Mum in 140,000 households more than they did 10 years ago, a new report shows.

The number of families with two working parents has also risen dramatically with 58 per cent of families having both mum and dad in the workforce, up from 48 per cent in the 1980s, according to new AMP/NATSEM research.

Despite more families having women as the chief breadwinner, they still tend to bring home less cash.

Lower income families tend to be more reliant on female earners, with only 17 per cent of high income families having a female bringing in the main household income.

Analysing the shifting shape of Australian families, the Modern Family report also found the number of blended and step-families is on the rise in Australia, making up almost 11 per cent of families with children compared to 6.8 per cent in 1986.

The number of same-sex couples has increased 72 per cent in 10 years with most growth coming from non-metropolitan areas, and the report also found that more than half of all Australians support equal rights for same-sex couples in relation to marriage and children, an increase of 14 percentage points in just over five years.

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