Women more likely to pay for personal services
New research from Roy Morgan shows that Australian Women are significantly more likely to pay for personal services than men. Over 7.3 million women pay for personal services such as a hairdresser, a doctor, servicing or washing a motor car, alternative health services, house cleaning, pet care services, exercise classes or other personal services in an average four weeks compared to around 6 million men.
Over 13.4 million Australians (65.2%) now pay for a personal service which has increased consistently over the past four years up from 12.5 million (64.6%) in 2015. Hairdressing is clearly the most popular personal service with over 6.2 million Australians paying a hairdresser in an average four weeks including 36% of women and 24% of men.
Over a quarter of Australians visit a doctor in an average four weeks, numbering almost 5.2 million Australians including 26% of women and 24% of men. Nearly 3.8 million Australians service a motor car in an average four weeks including over 2 million men and over 1.7 million women.
Of Australia’s 15 most paid for personal services a majority of 12 are more likely to be paid for by women than men with only three exceptions including servicing a motor car, minor home repairs and also home renovations.
There are several personal services for which women comprise the great bulk of paying customer led by Personal grooming services (Women 89% cf. men 11%), Personal grooming advice for colour/wardrobe consultation (Women 80% cf. men 20%), Exercise classes including yoga, pilates, strength training (Women 76% cf. men 24%) and Alternative health services such as naturopathy, massage, acupuncture (Women 65% cf. men 35%).
Personal services paid for in an average four weeks by Gender - March 2019
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, April 2018 – March 2019. n=14,722. Base: Australians 14+ .
Older generations more likely to paying for personal services – Pre-Boomers most likely
Nearly two-thirds of Australians (65%) pay for personal services in an average four weeks and analysis by generation reveals that the older Australians get the more likely they are to pay for personal services.
Pre-Boomers, who consist of Australians born before 1946 and now aged at least 73 years old, are the most likely generation to pay for personal services with three-quarters of Pre-Boomers availing themselves of a personal service in an average four weeks mostly hairdressing (40%), doctor’s visit (31%), servicing a motor car and house cleaning (both 23%).
There’s not much separating the three ‘middle’ generations when it comes to paying for personal services used by 72% of Baby Boomers, 71% of Generation X and 67% of Millennials.
There is however a significant drop-off for Generation Z born 1991-2005 and now aged 14-28 years old for which only 44% pay for a personal service in an average four weeks.
The personal services for which Pre-Boomers are far more likely than the average Australian to pay for include House cleaning (23% for Pre Boomers cf. 10% for Australians), Gardening (17% cf. 7%) and Technical support, repairs or installation for computers or other technology (5% cf. 3%).
Although fewer than half of Generation Z pay for personal services in an average four weeks there are some personal services younger Australians are more likely to pay for than the average Australian including Personal fitness training and Personal grooming advice for colour/wardrobe consultation.
Australians paying for personal services in an average four weeks by Generation - March 2019
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, April 2018 – March 2019. n=14,722. Base: Australians 14+
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says paying for personal services in Australia is big business with more than 13.4 million of Australians (65%) paying for a personal service in an average four weeks:
“Over 13.4 million Australians pay for personal services in an average four weeks and Australian women are providing the bulk of customers across these services industries. Over 70% of Australian women pay for personal services compared to around 60% of men. In raw figures that translates to more than 7.3 million women and over 6 million men.
“Women are more likely to pay for the bulk of personal services including Hairdressing, Doctor’s visits, Alternative health services such as naturopathy, massage and acupuncture, House cleaning, Pet care services, Exercise classes such as yoga, pilates and strength training, Personal services including manicures, facials and waxing and Gardening.
“Hairdressing tops the list easily as the most paid for personal service with over 6.2 million Australians visiting a hairdresser in an average four weeks. Over a third of women, or 3.8 million, pay for hairdressing services in an average month compared to 2.4 million men.
“Visiting a hairdresser is also strongly co-related to age with older Australians far more likely to visit hairdressers than younger Australians. Over 40% of Pre-Boomers born before 1946 and over 50% of women in this generation pay for hairdressing services. This drops to 36% of Baby Boomers, 35% of Generation X, 28% of Millennials and only 18% of Generation Z.
“As well as ad-hoc personal services paid for at time of purchase there are personal services Australians pay for on a continual basis including gym memberships (15% of Australians), Club memberships with active participation (8%) and private education for children (7%).
“Different generations pay for these services at significantly different rates illustrating the differing priorities at different stages of life. Millennials (20%) are the most likely generation to pay for a gym membership while those in Generation X (16%) are far more likely to pay for private education than any other generation and Pre-Boomers (15%) and Baby Boomers (11%) are the most likely to have a club membership with active participation.
“Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey conducted with over 50,000 Australians per year allows in-depth analysis of the personal services Australians pay for to be tracked and examined against a wide range of other consumer metrics including demographic and psychographic segmentations, media consumption habits and internet use, sports participation and spectating, leisure activities and entertainment preferences.”
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
