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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Victoria 29% of the female population over 15 did more than 14 hours of housework each week in 2021.
There has been increased interest in identifying, acknowledging and valuing the unpaid work that supports home and community life. The changing amount of time spent on unpaid housework in different Household Types and, particularly the distribution of this work within the household, can indicate the changing roles of males, females and older children in society. The level of unpaid domestic work in Victoria may also be related to Household Income, as higher income households are able to outsource some of these tasks.
Q:
Derived from the Census question:
'In the last week did the person spend time doing unpaid domestic work for their household?'
| Unpaid domestic work | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria - Females aged 15+ (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Hours spent on unpaid domestic work | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Did unpaid domestic work | 1,937,271 | 70.9 | 71.5 | 1,813,280 | 72.8 | 73.6 | +123,991 |
| Less than 5 hours | 410,914 | 15.0 | 15.1 | 436,950 | 17.5 | 17.0 | -26,036 |
| Between 5 and 14 hours | 742,676 | 27.2 | 27.4 | 649,926 | 26.1 | 26.6 | +92,750 |
| Between 15 and 29 hours | 430,558 | 15.7 | 15.9 | 383,784 | 15.4 | 15.8 | +46,774 |
| 30 hours or more | 353,123 | 12.9 | 13.1 | 342,620 | 13.7 | 14.2 | +10,503 |
| Did no unpaid domestic work | 639,732 | 23.4 | 22.4 | 476,051 | 19.1 | 18.1 | +163,681 |
| Not stated | 156,729 | 5.7 | 6.1 | 202,863 | 8.1 | 8.3 | -46,134 |
| Total persons aged 15+ | 2,733,732 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 2,492,194 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +241,538 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the unpaid domestic work performed by the female population in Victoria in 2021 compared to Australia shows that there was a similar proportion of females who performed 15 hours or more of unpaid domestic work per week.
Overall, 29% of the female population reported performing 15 hours or more of unpaid domestic work, compared with 29.0% for Australia.
The major differences between the share of the female population performing unpaid domestic work in Victoria and Australia were:
- A larger percentage of females who did no unpaid domestic work (23.4% compared to 22.4%)
- A smaller percentage of females who did unpaid domestic work (total) (70.9% compared to 71.5%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the number of females performing unpaid domestic work in Victoria, between 2016 and 2021 were those who:
- Did no unpaid domestic work (+163,681 females)
- Did unpaid domestic work (+123,991 females)
- Between 5 and 14 hours (+92,750 females)
- Between 15 and 29 hours (+46,774 females)
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