Caring responsibilities and unpaid work

Women are disproportionately expected to provide unpaid care for children and other family members. This can prevent women from increasing hours or even pursuing work or study. Women spend almost an hour a day more on unpaid work than men, and women with children under 15 spent an average of 7 hours 29 minutes a day on unpaid work, compared to 5 hours and 2 minutes for men.

In the first five years of parenting their first child, women’s earnings are reduced by 55% on average, while men’s earnings remain unaffected during that same time. One-parent families are overwhelmingly headed by single mothers, at 77%.  Women also disproportionately take on caring responsibilities beyond children, to care for parents and other family members. Middle-aged women are also more likely to be part of the ‘sandwich generation’, caring for older parents as well as their own children.

What to consider

• Gender roles or stereotypes that may reinforce roles and expectations around care responsibilities and unpaid work.
• Any gaps in access to a program or service due to caring responsibilities (such as opening times, accessibility of location or building, requirements to attend on-site).
• Targeted measures such as gender-neutral child toileting facilities, universal access to parenting leave / workplace flexibility.
• Opening and closing times of services and flexibility of after-hours support.
• Availability of toileting facilities, including parent rooms, and placement. For example, are they only available in women’s toilets?

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics, How Australians use their time 2024

Centre for Economic Development of Australia, Occupational gender segregation 2023

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Status of Families, June 2025