The table illustrates the distribution of the number of children born to Australian women aged 40-44 years between 1981 and 2006. Overall, the trend shows a marked increase in childlessness and single-child families, contrasted by a substantial decrease in larger families with three or more children.
In 1981, the most common family size was four or more children, accounting for 27.6% of women, followed closely by three children at 27.4%. However, these figures experienced a consistent downward trend over the following decades. By 2006, the proportion of women with four or more children had plummeted to 11.0%, and those with three children fell to 21.5%. Conversely, the percentage of women with two children grew from 29.0% in 1981 to a peak of 38.3% in 2006, remaining the most prevalent family size from 1986 onwards.
Regarding smaller families, the proportion of women with no children nearly doubled, rising from 8.5% in 1981 to 15.9% in 2006. Similarly, the percentage of women with only one child increased steadily from 7.6% to 13.2% over the same period. These shifts highlight a clear transition towards smaller family units among Australian women in this age demographic.