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AustraliaCommunity profile

Greater Capital Cities

Unpaid domestic work

In Greater Capital Cities 20% of the 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 Greater Capital Cities 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
Greater Capital Cities - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)20212016Change
Hours spent on unpaid domestic workNumber%Australia %Number%Australia %2016 to 2021
Did unpaid domestic work9,115,86267.467.78,512,26768.969.0+603,595
Less than 5 hours2,740,60320.319.82,946,89323.922.6-206,290
Between 5 and 14 hours3,686,45527.327.33,193,46125.926.0+492,994
Between 15 and 29 hours1,581,08911.712.11,346,04910.911.5+235,040
30 hours or more1,107,7158.28.61,025,8648.39.0+81,851
Did no unpaid domestic work3,625,91026.825.72,874,63723.322.2+751,273
Not stated776,7155.76.6963,5707.88.8-186,855
Total persons aged 15+13,518,487100.0100.012,350,474100.0100.0+1,168,013
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Dominant groups

Analysis of the unpaid domestic work performed by the population in Greater Capital Cities in 2021 compared to Australia shows that there was a lower proportion of persons who performed 15 hours or more of unpaid domestic work per week.

Overall, 20% of the population reported performing 15 hours or more of unpaid domestic work, compared with 20.7% for Australia.

The major difference between the share of the population performing unpaid domestic work in Greater Capital Cities and Australia was:

  • A larger percentage of persons who did no unpaid domestic work (26.8% compared to 25.7%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the number of people performing unpaid domestic work in Greater Capital Cities, between 2016 and 2021 were those who:

  • Did no unpaid domestic work (+751,273 persons)
  • Did unpaid domestic work (+603,595 persons)
  • Between 5 and 14 hours (+492,994 persons)
  • Between 15 and 29 hours (+235,040 persons)

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