2914.0.55.002 - 2006 Census of Population and Housing: Media Releases and Fact Sheets, 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/06/2007  First Issue
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MEDIA FACT SHEET
June 27, 2007
Embargoed 9.30 am (AEST)
70/2007
Census proves more of the domestic workload is shouldered by women
  • Women do more than twice as many hours of unpaid domestic work as men, according to responses to a new question included in the 2006 Census. A little more than one in three women (35%) reported doing heavy amounts (15+ hours) of unpaid domestic work each week, compared to 12% of men.
  • Slightly more than half (53%) the men in Australia reported doing less than 5 hours or no unpaid domestic work per week, while this was true of slightly less than one-third (31%) of women.
  • In capital cities, 22% of Sydneysiders reported doing no domestic work, compared to only 15% of Canberrans. At the other extreme, 11% of people in Hobart did 30 or more hours a week of unpaid domestic work, compared to only 9% of Canberrans.

Young people
  • Young people do the least amount of domestic work. Just over a quarter of people aged 15–29 (27%) did five or more hours of unpaid domestic work each week, while 26% of this age group did no work at all.
  • The biggest difference in hours spent on unpaid domestic work was between young men and women who were parents. Just under 80% of mothers aged 15–29 years did more than 5 hours of housework, while 43% of fathers of the same age did 5 or more hours of domestic work in the week prior to the Census.
  • Parents aged 15–29 did more housework than other people of the same age – 68% did 5 or more hours of domestic work. Young people living in couple-only households also did more hours of domestic work than most other young people – 53% did five or more hours per week.
  • This is the first time ABS has included a question on unpaid domestic work in the Census. The results will assist in understanding the contribution of unpaid work to Australian society.
  • Comprehensive information about time use, including time spent on domestic and other unpaid work, will be available from the ABS Time Use Survey. These results will be released in late 2007.

NB: The figures in this fact sheet apply to those aged 15 and over and exclude overseas visitors. Where an answer to a question has not been provided (i.e. not stated) these occurrences form a separate category in the data and therefore some percentages do not total to 100%.

Source: ABS 2006 Census.


Table 1. 2006 Census: Unpaid domestic work, states and territories
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Males
Nil hours
26.0
25.8
23.7
24.2
24.9
24.3
24.7
18.3
25.1
Less than 5 hours
27.9
28.7
28.3
27.3
28.4
25.7
25.9
32.4
28.2
5 to 14 hours
23.4
24.0
24.8
26.1
24.2
25.6
23.4
29.9
24.3
15 to 29 hours
7.1
7.0
7.5
8.4
6.8
8.8
6.8
8.3
7.3
30 hours or more
4.3
4.0
4.6
5.0
4.1
5.8
3.4
3.5
4.4
Females
Nil hours
16.5
16.2
13.7
15.2
14.3
15.4
14.9
11.0
15.4
Less than 5 hours
15.3
15.7
15.3
14.0
14.9
12.8
17.7
19.2
15.3
5 to 14 hours
23.7
23.8
25.4
25.3
24.7
24.3
27.4
30.8
24.4
15 to 29 hours
16.5
16.4
17.3
18.4
17.0
18.2
14.4
18.1
16.9
30 hours or more
18.2
18.4
19.0
19.0
19.4
20.6
13.0
14.5
18.5
Persons
Nil hours
21.2
20.9
18.6
19.6
19.5
19.7
19.9
14.6
20.2
Less than 5 hours
21.4
22.0
21.7
20.5
21.6
19.0
21.9
25.6
21.6
5 to 14 hours
23.5
23.9
25.1
25.7
24.5
24.9
25.3
30.4
24.4
15 to 29 hours
11.9
11.8
12.5
13.5
12.0
13.6
10.5
13.3
12.2
30 hours or more
11.4
11.4
11.9
12.2
11.9
13.5
8.1
9.1
11.6

Table 2. 2006 Census: Unpaid domestic work, capital cities(a)
Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane
Adelaide
Perth
Hobart
Darwin
Canberra
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Males
Nil hours
26.8
26.3
22.7
24.3
24.9
22.9
21.8
18.3
Less than 5 hours
29.4
29.6
30.7
28.1
29.4
27.5
26.6
32.4
5 to 14 hours
22.6
23.7
25.7
26.3
24.5
26.5
25.2
30.0
15 to 29 hours
6.1
6.4
7.2
8.1
6.6
8.4
7.2
8.4
30 hours or more
3.3
3.4
3.9
4.5
3.7
4.9
3.5
3.5
Females
Nil hours
17.3
16.7
13.4
15.6
14.6
15.1
11.8
11.0
Less than 5 hours
17.0
17.0
17.4
15.2
15.9
14.8
16.5
19.2
5 to 14 hours
23.9
24.2
26.4
26.1
25.3
26.2
29.3
30.8
15 to 29 hours
15.3
15.7
17.0
17.8
16.8
17.8
15.8
18.1
30 hours or more
16.0
16.7
17.3
17.4
18.2
17.5
14.1
14.5
Persons
Nil hours
21.9
21.4
17.9
19.8
19.6
18.8
17.0
14.6
Less than 5 hours
23.0
23.1
23.8
21.4
22.5
20.9
21.7
25.6
5 to 14 hours
23.3
24.0
26.0
26.1
24.9
26.3
27.2
30.4
15 to 29 hours
10.8
11.2
12.2
13.1
11.8
13.3
11.3
13.4
30 hours or more
9.8
10.3
10.8
11.2
11.1
11.5
8.6
9.1
(a) Capital City Statistical Division.

Table 3. 2006 Census: Unpaid domestic work by age
Age group (years)
15-29
30-44
45-59
60-74
75 and over
%
%
%
%
%
Nil hours
25.8
13.7
16.3
22.2
32.9
Less than 5 hours
36.4
20.7
17.9
11.2
8.5
5 to 14 hours
18.7
29.0
30.1
21.1
14.1
15 to 29 hours
4.4
14.1
16.1
16.2
10.6
30 hours or more
3.9
14.7
12.2
17.8
12.1

Table 4. 2006 Census: Unpaid domestic work, young people in private dwellings, Australia
Persons aged 15-29 years
Parent
Couple without
children
Dependent
student,
non-dependent
child
Lone person
Group household member
Other
Hours worked
%
%
%
%
%
%
Males
Less than 5 hours
53.1
58.9
82.7
61.4
70.8
73.0
5 hours or more
42.9
39.3
8.7
34.7
24.8
20.0
Females
Less than 5 hours
16.8
35.7
77.1
51.5
62.0
62.0
5 hours or more
79.4
62.8
15.1
45.7
35.1
32.8
Persons
Less than 5 hours
27.9
45.7
80.1
57.0
66.7
67.6
5 hours or more
68.3
52.7
11.6
39.7
29.5
25.9