At the time of the census the average Port Pirie woman had given birth to two children, the first when she was 26, is 41 years old and 40 percent were living in a couple families.

Kellie Brown is a close match to the average Port Pirie woman and says she isn’t surprised that she fits in the

“category”.

“I wouldn’t be without my kids and it would be hard to bring them up without my partner,” Kellie said. For all Port Pirie residents aged 15 years or older, the average total income before tax was $250-$399 a week which is one of the lowest for South Australia and lower than Whyalla and Port Augusta.

“I am not too surprised by this because there are a lot of low- income jobs, but not a lot of professional work,” Kellie said.

“A lot of women around my age are finding it hard to get back into the workforce after they have had children.

“It is hard when you know you have the skills behind you and employers are continually employing trainees. I know that older women would be good to employ because they often have mortgages and children to support while the kids don’t have these things and are more likely to move on.”

The census revealed that the average women spent between five and 14 hours of her time doing domestic work when the average man spent fewer than five hours on domestic duties.

This was one place that Kellie said her and her partner Phil didn’t fit in to the census because they share the workload between them.