It’ll take 30 years until men do as much housework as women
Data from the annual University of Melbourne and Melbourne Institute HILDA survey of 17,000 Australians suggests that at the current rate of change, it’ll take another 30 years until men do the same amount of housework as women. Furthermore, women are still doing around seven more hours of housework a week than men.
The study looked at data collected from heterosexual couples, and while men did 55 minutes more housework in 2016 than they did in 2002, women are still doing 20 hours a week of housework, while men do just 13.
Unfortunately, recent research suggests that Australians are currently reinforcing the unfair division of labour at home with their own children.
The University of Melbourne Kids Contribute survey of 10,000 primary school children revealed that the gender pay gap starts at home with pocket money. Girls were found to be paid less than their brothers and were much more likely to not be paid at all.
Last year, Plan International Australia surveyed 2000 females aged 10 to 25 about inequality for the Dream Gap report. Two-thirds of the 10 to 17 year-olds (63 per cent) said they did more housework than their brothers. This sense of inequality grew as girls entered adulthood. Three quarters of the young women aged 18 to 25 reported doing more at home than the men in their lives.
While the shift in attitudes towards gender and gender roles have improved, the research suggests that this isn’t translating to a fairer division of work at home for women or children.
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