More Aussie couples living together before marriage

New statistics show 3/4 of Australian couples who married this century lived together beforehand. Photo / NZ Herald

More young couples are living together before marriage than ever before, new social trend statistics show.

And Australian households are consuming more energy - nearly half as much again from levels 20 years ago - because of a rising population, bigger homes and electrical equipment.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveal about three-quarters of couples, who married this century, lived together before tying the knot.

That figure compares to just three per cent of couple during the 1960s.

The quarterly snapshot of society also shows households have allocated "his and her" chores.

More people, and bigger houses with more electrical equipment, have contributed to a sharp jump - 49 per cent - in energy consumption during the past 20 years.

In 2008, the average household produced about 14 tonnes of greenhouse gas.

Just eight per cent of overall household electricity came from renewable energy, the rest came from burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas.

But community awareness of environmental issues has resulted in increased use of energy-saving measures in the home.

In 2008, about 10 per cent of households were paying for "green" electricity, and 59 per cent had installed energy-saving lighting, up from 33 per cent in 2005.

The Northern Territory had the highest rates of solar energy use in Australia - 55 per cent of all households.

Around the country, energy star ratings were the main household consideration when replacing refrigerators, freezers and clothes dryers.

But people are less concerned about saving energy when it comes to buying heavy-user televisions, such as LCDs and plasmas - about 45 per cent of households had one in 2008.

When it comes to the households chores the latest data shows women are doing almost twice as much as men.

But men have started to do more: between 1992 and 2006, the average time men spent on household work rose by an hour and 25 minutes to 18 hours and 20 minutes a week.

Women did most of the indoor tasks while men spent time outdoors.

In 2007, women(22 per cent) were more likely than men(18 per cent) to have a mental disorder.

- AAP