What makes Aussies?

WOMEN are better educated, men are outnumbered, kids more techno-savvy and twenty-somethings ... well, they just won't leave home.

The latest census picture painted of Australia also reveals that youngsters are less likely to believe in religion.

This grouping of people born since 1986 has been dubbed the iGeneration because 80 per cent have access to the internet and they are obsessed with technology such as iPods and iPhones, the Herald Sun reports.

The 2006 census report shows that:

* THE number of people in their late 20s who still live with their parents has surged 50 per cent since the 1980s. Almost a third live at home.

* IN the 20 years from 1986 to 2006 the number of women working jumped 64 per cent, from 2.6 million to 4.2 million.

* WOMEN have drawn level in education. Just two generations previously 39 per cent of men had a qualification compared with just 14 per cent of women.

* SINGLE women outnumber single men by 100/99, but as they age survival rates kick in - there are only 69 men aged 75 to every 100 women.

* MARRIAGE seems out of fashion with the young. The proportion of people aged under 35 who have tied the knot has plummeted from 75 per cent to less than half since the 1980s.

* ONE in four members of the iGeneration profess to having no religion, compared with one in five aged over 80; in 1971, 6.7 per cent of all people said they had no religion, compared with 18.7 per cent in 2006.

* MORE Australians choose to live in the city. Just 12 per cent of the population is in rural areas, compared with 42 per cent in 1911. The vast majority of the population - 85 per cent - lives within 50km of the coastline.

* HALF of mothers with children aged under five are in the paid workforce, up from 20 per cent in 1971.

* MORE people live alone.

* PEOPLE whose parents were born overseas are more likely to be financially successful than those whose families have been in Australia for generations.

A report by Australian Statistician Brian Pink shows that many hard-working children of migrants enjoy prosperity their parents could only dream of before they moved to Australia.

Australians whose parents were born overseas were more likely to earn at least $1000 a week than people whose parents were born in Australia.

The census also found children of migrants from several ethnic groups were more likely to study for university qualifications than those from older Australians families.

More than 48 per cent of Chinese, 32 per cent of Poles, 27 per cent of Greeks, and 25 per cent of Croatians had university qualifications, compared with 22.7 per cent of those with so-called "Australian ancestry".

The report contrasts the different experiences of age groups, ranging from the iGeneration to the oldest generation - people aged 80-plus.

The older group lived through the Great Depression and World War II and had limited educational opportunities. Generations X and Y (born 1966-86) are the most educated: a quarter hold university degrees.

But it was also the first generation to experience high rates of parental separation and divorce, and has faced higher university costs and less job stability than the postwar baby boomers.

- with AAP

(the above article and images is from the news.com website and I believed it would be an interesting snapshot of what comprises the general populous.)