Many women are dissatisfied with the division of unpaid domestic work between them and their partner

Taking The Pulse of the Nation

Informing Australian economic & social policy.

A Melbourne Institute & Roy Morgan partnership

Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN) surveys the Australian population to capture their sentiments and behaviours related to current economic and social issues.

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Many women are dissatisfied with the division of unpaid domestic work between them and their partner

The latest Women’s Budget Statement highlights women’s disproportionate burden of unpaid domestic work, particularly the care of others, compared to men. But how much of this inequality arises from couples happily assuming more gender stereotypical roles within households—with women as ‘homemakers’ and men as ‘breadwinners’—versus women simply being pushed into these roles or bearing the larger burden of household responsibilities in addition to their paid jobs, ultimately leaving them dissatisfied with the division of chores?

The March 2024 Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN) survey reveals that, while the total hours of unpaid domestic work decreased since March 2023 for parents of dependent children, women and, particularly, mothers continue to undertake disproportionately more household work. Activities include, for example, grocery shopping, food preparation, laundry, grounds care and gardening, home and vehicle maintenance, caring for children, caring for adults, and paying bills. Although the gender gap in part reflects differences in employment status—and, thus, could reflect a conscious decision to specialise within couples—women are more often dissatisfied with the division of household tasks than men.

Women, particularly mothers, spend substantially more time than men each week doing unpaid domestic work

Women do 22.3 hours of unpaid domestic work per week compared to men’s 15.3 (Figure 1 – available to view on the Melbourne Institute TTPN website). This gender gap of seven hours each week could in part reflect differences in employment status: Women’s hours of unpaid domestic work are lower the more they work in the labour market.

Still, full-time employed women work slightly more around the house than full-time employed men (15.8 hours vs. 14.3 hours). In contrast, part-time employed men contribute the least time to household chores (11.0 hours)—even less than men who work full-time.

Women with children under the age of 18 in the household face the largest unpaid domestic work burden with 30.4 hours per week (Figure 1 – available to view on the Melbourne Institute TTPN website portal). This amount, however, is down from 35.0 hours in March 2023. For men with children in the household unpaid work decreased from 19.7 to 16.4 hours. These rates suggest a significant drop in the total time parents spend doing unpaid domestic work.

The gender gap in unpaid domestic work is strong within couples and is particularly felt by mothers

Among coupled individuals, Australians’ perception of their partner’s contribution to unpaid domestic work clearly reflects the gender gap, even though perceptions differ by gender: 62 percent of all women indicate their partner contributes less time than they do themselves. Conversely, 57 percent of men say their partner contributes more time (Figure 2 – available to view on the Melbourne Institute TTPN website).

Perceptions differ most among parents: More than two out of three women with children under the age of 18 in the household (69 percent) indicate their partner contributes less — ranging from a bit less (17 percent), a lot less (47 percent), to nothing at all (5 percent).

Only 56 percent of fathers, however, recognise their partner doing more—a rate that is about the same as that among men living without dependent children (57 percent). 30 percent of fathers but only 15 percent of mothers indicate their partner’s contribution to be about the same.

Women, particularly mothers, are more dissatisfied with the division of unpaid domestic work than men

Women are more dissatisfied than men with the division of unpaid domestic work between them and their partner: only 13 percent of partnered men are either very or moderately dissatisfied, while more than double of all partnered women are (27 percent) (Figure 3 – available to view on the Melbourne Institute TTPN website).

This is particularly true in households with children under the age of 18: Every third mother (32 percent) is either very or moderately dissatisfied with the division, compared to only 8 percent of fathers. Partnered fathers in turn are the most satisfied with their within-couple division with 63 percent either moderately or very satisfied, compared to less than half of all partnered mothers (44 percent).

As a result, average satisfaction with the division of unpaid domestic work on a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied) is 3.8 for fathers vs. 3.2 for mothers (Figure 4 – available to view on the Melbourne Institute TTPN website).

Satisfaction with unpaid domestic work division differs based on family composition and employment status for women but not men

For women, average satisfaction with the division of unpaid domestic work varies by their circumstances: Women with dependent children in the household are less satisfied with their within-couple division of unpaid domestic work (3.2) than are women without (3.6) and employed women are less satisfied (3.4) than are women who are not employed (3.8) (Figure 4 – available to view on the Melbourne Institute TTPN website).

In contrast, for men these distinctions hardly matter, with average satisfaction around 3.7-3.8 regardless of their employment status or having dependent children. For men, average satisfaction with the unpaid domestic work division is also relatively stable regardless of their weekly unpaid domestic work hours—unless exceeding 30—while for women average satisfaction is lower the more hours they spend doing household chores per week.

Division of unpaid domestic work within couples is a key factor for satisfaction

The variation in average satisfaction with the division of unpaid domestic work is largest, however, when considering the partner’s contribution, particularly in conjunction with own employment status: women are more satisfied the more their partner contributes, and this gap is largest for employed women—the average satisfaction is 4.3 among employed women whose partners contribute more than themselves vs. 2.9 among employed women whose partners contribute less.

Men are most satisfied when they perceive their partner to contribute about the same.

Women—particularly mothers—continue to do more work for their households than men and to contribute more to household work than their partners. While the reduction in total hours of domestic labour undertaken by parents has decreased within the last year—perhaps due to the current Government’s policies targeted at supporting parents and families—the unequal division poses a real threat to women’s wellbeing.

Striving for equal labour market opportunities for women needs to happen in conjunction with supporting men to take on more housework and caring duties, in particular fathers.

The 2024-25 Women’s Budget identifies societal barriers to fathers’ involvement in their children’s care, yet also recognises its benefit not only for mothers, but also for fathers and children.

Sharing the load will not only prevent women—who are increasingly participating in the workforce — from being dissatisfied with the division of labour at home when doing it all, but, in fact, benefit men too—who are most satisfied when chores are distributed evenly.

Authors: This Taking the Pulse of the Nation insight was authored by Dr. Sarah C. Dahmann, Research Fellow at the Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, and Tanya Gupta, Senior Foundation Fellow at the Melbourne Institute, on 14 June 2024.

Contact: melb-inst@unimelb.edu.au.

About Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN):

*This report is based on a total of 1,139 adult respondents from data collected in March 2024. The questions specified that unpaid domestic work can include grocery shopping, food preparation, laundry, grounds care and gardening, home and vehicle maintenance, caring for children, caring for an adult, paying bills, etc.

**This research was supported (partially or fully) by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (Project ID CE200100025).

***Beginning in April 2020, the Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN) was conceptualised and implemented by a group of researchers at the Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research.

In 2022, the Melbourne Institute and Roy Morgan formed a partnership to extend the running of the TTPN. Each wave includes a set of core questions, as well as additional questions that address current and emerging issues facing Australians.

The TTPN sample is stratified to reflect the Australian adult population in terms of age, gender, and location. The TTPN Survey uses a repeated cross-sectional design. If you are interested in adding questions to the survey or accessing the data, please contact us at: melb-inst@unimelb.edu.au.

To view all Melbourne Institute – Roy Morgan Taking The Pulse of the Nation Reports visit the TTPN website portal: https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/data/ttpn.