Most Families Move to Suburbs in Sidney

Sidney city streets are now mostly inhabited with singles under 30, as families are flocking to suburbs, a survey has revealed. Latest census data paints a picture of city dwellers free of children and wedding rings, while their suburban and country counterparts are twice as likely to be married, with a bub or two.

Nearly two-thirds of Sydney city women have never had any children, the numbers soaring to 45,000, up 10 percent in the past five years.

But in greater Sydney, two-thirds of women have had at least one child and the average suburban family has 1.9 kids.

Children under 15 years make up just 7 percent of the city's population, compared with the greater Sydney, where about one in five people is a child.

The city also has fewer grannies and pops. People over 60 years make up just 9.8 percent of the population, compared to the suburbs where more than 17 percent of people are aged between 60 and 84.

UTS fellow and sociologist Eva Cox said that the city attracted young women who would not have children until their early 30s and would raise children outside the city.

"Inner-city areas are not really child friendly, there is not much housing for children," the Daily Telegraph quoted Cox as saying.

"You have an Aussie thing where you raise kids in backyards, we don't have that European way where you raise kids in flats," she said.

Just 24 percent of people living in Sydney are married - half the rate of greater Sydney, NSW and the nation, where nearly 50 percent of people have said "I do."

"We haven't got the idea of a city as a civilised space for families and older people, it's a young person's area," Cox added.

Even property developers are designing apartments that are specifically for singles and women without children.

Source-ANI