Census reveals insights into Australia’s labour force

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MEDIA RELEASE
23 October 2017
130/2017
Census reveals insights into Australia’s labour force


Women in full-time employment are twice as likely as their male counterparts to do at least 15 hours of unpaid domestic work a week, according to new data from the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.

Census Program Manager Bindi Kindermann said the data also showed the traditional split had continued among men and women when it came to domestic chores.

“The Census counted that almost one-fifth of women working full-time were likely to undertake at least 15 hours of unpaid domestic work a week, compared to 8 per cent of men,” Ms Kindermann said.

“And while 9 per cent of men who were employed part-time were likely to carry out 15 or more hours of unpaid domestic work a week, for women it was 34 per cent.”

Ms Kindermann said that the latest release of 2016 Census data details a range of insights into the profile of Australia’s labour force and showed how working patterns had changed.

“According to the Census, 56 per cent of women in Australia were employed in 2016, compared with 65 per cent of men,” Ms Kindermann said. “Compare this to 1966 and we see that the proportion of men employed was 83 per cent while for women it was 34 per cent.”

The Census recorded that in the week leading up to Census night, Australia’s working population worked on average 34.6 hours per week, down from 35.1 in 2011. The average number of paid hours worked in the week leading up to Census night was 30 hours for females and 39 hours for males.

Ms Kindermann said today’s latest round of 2016 Census data provides further information that will help Australians understand who we are as a nation and help governments, councils, businesses and other organisations around the country plan for the future.

“Today latest Census release gives us invaluable insight into the nation, relating to internal migration, education and method of travel to work.

“Census data is available free online. Use one of our easy tools such as QuickStats and Community Profiles to access the latest data for your area or topic of interest.”

Data from the 2016 Census is now available on the ABS website, www.abs.gov.au/census

Note: The Census and Labour Force Survey both collect labour market information however are designed for different purposes and utilise different collection methods.

Differences in the collections mean they are not directly comparable to each other, they are complementary data.

The Labour Force Survey should be used as the source of Australia’s official estimates of employment and unemployment and to measure changes over time in the Australian labour force.



Labour Force
2016
2011

Labour force population
11,471,298
10,658,465

Employed persons
10,683,844
10,058,330
Full time
6,623,065
6,367,555
Part time
3,491,503
3,062,977
Away from work
569,276
627,798

Unemployed persons
787,454
600,135
Looking for full-time work
447,650
357,871
Looking for part-time work
339,804
242,264

Not in labour force (15 years and over)
6,297,600
5,729,306
18-64 year olds
2,891,023
2,784,814

* Excludes Not stated, Not applicable and Overseas visitors.

Note: The Census and Labour Force Survey both collect labour market information however are designed for different purposes and utilise different collection methods.
Differences in the collections mean they are not directly comparable to each other, they are complementary data.



Hours worked

Males (%, 2016)
Females (%, 2016)
Total (%, 2016)
Total (%, 2011)

1-15 hours
8.0%
16.6%
12.1%
11.5%
16-24 hours
6.4%
15.5%
10.7%
10.1%
25-34 hours
7.4%
16.7%
11.8%
10.9%
35-40 hours
43.5%
35.7%
39.8%
38.8%
41-48 hours
12.4%
6.8%
9.8%
11.0%
49 hours and over
22.3%
8.7%
15.9%
17.8%

* Percentage of people who worked full or part time. Excludes “Not stated” and those away from work.



Hours of unpaid domestic work – Employment status

Whole population
Employed, full-time
Employed, part-time

Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female

Less than 5 hours
60%
38%
59%
39%
65%
33%
5 to 14 hours
28%
29%
33%
42%
26%
33%
15 or more hours
12%
33%
8%
19%
9%
34%

* People aged 15 years and over. Excludes not stated.