Economic pressures are reshaping Australian family life, driving both marriage and divorce rates down, according to Australian National University (ANU) demographer Liz Allen.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show 2.1 divorces per 1,000 adults in 2024 — the lowest rate since no-fault divorce was introduced nearly five decades ago. Allen, writing in ANU Reporter, said the change reflects deep social and economic shifts, with Australians marrying later, divorcing later, and having fewer children.

The average age at divorce is now 47 for men and 44 for women, with marriages lasting almost a year longer before separation than before the COVID-19 pandemic. The marriage rate has also fallen to 5.5 per 1,000 people — less than half the 1971 figure — as more couples choose to cohabit without marrying.

Australia’s fertility rate has dropped to a record low of 1.5 births per woman, and the proportion of women who never have children has nearly doubled since 1981. Allen said housing stress, rising living costs, and the high expense of raising children are forcing many to delay or abandon plans for a family.

With even straightforward divorces costing more than 10,000 Australian dollars (about 6,521 U.S. dollars), some separated couples are adopting unconventional arrangements such as “birdnesting” — keeping children in the family home while parents take turns living there — or “living apart together,” where partners remain in separate homes but maintain a relationship. In some cases, ex-partners continue sharing a home because they cannot afford to live apart, adding to emotional strain.

“Cost-of-living pressures are increasingly denying couples much-wanted families and making it more difficult for families to thrive, divorced or not,” Allen said.

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