Improving conditions ... Working women are behind a pick-up in young families’ living standards. Picture: Thinkstock Source: ThinkStock

Households headed by under-35s enjoyed living-standard increases of 58.4 per cent between 1988 and 2011 compared with 52 per cent for 35- to 49-year-olds, new analysis by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling reveals.

The results factor in mortgage and rent costs and therefore challenge the common perception that steep increases in house prices have made it more difficult for younger families to get ahead.

Doing OK ... The new analysis results challenge the common perception that steep increases in house prices have made it more difficult for younger families to get ahead. Picture: Supplied. Source: News Limited

“There have been big social changes since 1988,” said Natsem principal research fellow Ben Phillips. “Twenty-five years ago many women were having kids and that was it.

“We know that women these days are having kids later, going back to work earlier and working longer hours with childcare.”

They are also better educated, Mr Phillips said.

REVEALED: the households with the smallest improvement in living standards

The female “labour force participation rate” has risen from 49 per cent in 1988 to 59 per cent now, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

The median age of mothers in 1988 was 28. It’s since risen to 31.

Mr Phillips said while the price of housing had surged, interest rates were super-low and softening the blow.

Older mums are going back to work sooner ... The median age of mothers in 1988 was 28. It’s since risen to 31. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

The SAS-Natsem quarterly household budget report shows Australians’ living standards rose slightly in the three months to the end of March. The increase was due to a marginal increase in incomes but no overall rise in costs, with bigger food and health bills offset by lower transport expenses.

Mr Phillips said the average household enjoyed an annualised gain of $168 in the March quarter and $897 over the full year.

We are about one per cent better off than a year ago, the research shows, which is about half the rate of improvement over the longer term.

Northern Territorians enjoyed the biggest improvement in living standards over the past year, followed by South Australians. The only place where there was a decline was in the ACT. Looking back over a decade, the capital territory has had the second-biggest lift, behind Western Australia. Tasmanians have had the smallest improvement over the long-term, followed by Victoria. NSW has done best of the eastern states since 2005.