Employment

Unpaid domestic work

About this topic

Unpaid domestic work measures how much time people aged 15 years and over spent doing housework for their household in the week before the Census. It helps show the distribution of unpaid labour that supports home and family life.

This topic is useful for understanding household roles, time pressures, and gender or life-stage differences in unpaid work. It is best read with household type, employment, and income, because the amount of unpaid domestic work can be shaped by family structure and the ability to outsource tasks.

Interpretation notes

  • The hours refer to unpaid domestic work done for the person's household in the week before the Census.
  • This topic does not measure childcare, disability care, or other unpaid help unless it falls within domestic work for the household.

Key insight

In 2021, doing unpaid domestic work was the most common response among residents aged 15 and over in Machans Beach, accounting for 73.4% (574 people). This share was higher than Cairns (R) (65.3%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not doing unpaid domestic work, which increased by 50 people and 8 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid domestic work

Machans Beach - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

This table summarises unpaid domestic work for Machans Beach in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Cairns (R) and change since 2016.

Unpaid domestic work snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Machans Beach, with comparison markers for Cairns (R).

Machans Beach
Cairns (R)

Did Unpaid Domestic Work

2021 count

574

% of total

73.4%

Change from 2016

+13.0pp

Less Than 5 Hours

2021 count

169

% of total

21.6%

Change from 2016

+5.0pp

Between 5 And 14 Hours

2021 count

248

% of total

31.7%

Change from 2016

+4.7pp

Between 15 And 29 Hours

2021 count

89

% of total

11.4%

Change from 2016

+1.4pp

30 Hours Or More

2021 count

68

% of total

8.7%

Change from 2016

+1.9pp

Did No Unpaid Domestic Work

2021 count

163

% of total

20.8%

Change from 2016

+8.0pp

Not Stated

2021 count

49

% of total

6.3%

Change from 2016

-21.7pp

Data table

Unpaid domestic work for Machans Beach. Unpaid domestic work. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cairns (R).

Unpaid domestic work for Machans Beach. Unpaid domestic work. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cairns (R).
Unpaid domestic work for Machans Beach. Unpaid domestic work. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cairns (R).
Category20212016Change
Count%Cairns (R)%Count%Cairns (R)%Countpp
Did Unpaid Domestic Work57473.4%65.3%53560.4%68.3%+39+13.0pp
Less Than 5 Hours16921.6%19.7%14716.6%21.2%+22+5.0pp
Between 5 And 14 Hours24831.7%27.1%23927.0%27.6%+9+4.7pp
Between 15 And 29 Hours8911.4%11.1%8910.0%11.1%0+1.4pp
30 Hours Or More688.7%7.5%606.8%8.4%+8+1.9pp
Did No Unpaid Domestic Work16320.8%24.8%11312.8%20.3%+50+8.0pp
Not Stated496.3%9.9%24828.0%11.4%-199-21.7pp
Total782100.0%100.0%886100.0%100.0%-1040.0pp