In recent years Australia has been generous with financial assistance to families, and new figures show that the median family payment to a couple with three or more children will reach $10,643 this financial year. This compares with the median payment of $7307 to a single parent with one child, although such parents also receive pensions and other allowances. Almost 80 per cent of both groups receive the family payments.

Larger families are also paying less income tax. In 2004, only 28.6 per cent of couples with three or more children received more in benefits than they paid in income tax, compared with a national average of 39.3 per cent in the income-tax-free club. Today, 38.4 per cent these couples are income-tax-free, although still 4 points behind the national average.

However, the “big” family with three or more children is a minority trend, accounting for only 22.6 per cent of couples with dependent children, and 13.7 per cent of single parents. Couples with dependent children are themselves a minority: of a total 9.754 million families (or households) in Australia, only 2.124 million are couples with dependent children, and 562,000 are single parents. ~ The Australian, Sep 23