Employment
Domestic Work
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.
Related topics
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 Merrylands (part), accounting for 47.8% (12,289 people). This share was lower than Cumberland (A) (50.9%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not doing unpaid domestic work, which increased by 1,911 people and 3.8 percentage points.
Section overview
Unpaid domestic work
Merrylands (part) - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)
This table summarises domestic work for Merrylands (part) in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Cumberland (A) and change since 2016.
This area boundary has changed from 2016 to 2021. As a result, 2016 values are mapped onto 2021 suburb boundaries using ABS concordance.
Unpaid domestic work snapshot
2021 distribution by category for Merrylands (part), with comparison markers for Cumberland (A).
Did Unpaid Domestic Work
Less Than 5 Hours
Between 5 And 14 Hours
Between 15 And 29 Hours
30 Hours Or More
Did No Unpaid Domestic Work
Not Stated
Chart view
Unpaid domestic work change
Absolute change in category counts between 2016 and 2021.
Did Unpaid Domestic Work
-392
-6.7pp
Less Than 5 Hours
-996
-5.7pp
Between 5 And 14 Hours
+135
-1.3pp
Between 15 And 29 Hours
+280
+0.4pp
30 Hours Or More
+189
-0.1pp
Did No Unpaid Domestic Work
+1,911
+3.8pp
Not Stated
+933
+2.8pp
Data table
Domestic Work for Merrylands (part). Unpaid domestic work. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cumberland (A).
| Category | 2021 | 2016 | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | % | Cumberland (A)% | Count | % | Cumberland (A)% | Count | pp | |
| Did Unpaid Domestic Work | 12,289 | 47.8% | 50.9% | 12,681 | 54.5% | 56.5% | -392 | -6.7pp |
| Less Than 5 Hours | 3,459 | 13.4% | 14.5% | 4,455 | 19.1% | 19.7% | -996 | -5.7pp |
| Between 5 And 14 Hours | 4,459 | 17.3% | 18.6% | 4,324 | 18.6% | 19.5% | +135 | -1.3pp |
| Between 15 And 29 Hours | 2,152 | 8.4% | 9.1% | 1,872 | 8.0% | 8.7% | +280 | +0.4pp |
| 30 Hours Or More | 2,219 | 8.6% | 8.6% | 2,030 | 8.7% | 8.6% | +189 | -0.1pp |
| Did No Unpaid Domestic Work | 10,657 | 41.4% | 40.1% | 8,746 | 37.6% | 35.5% | +1,911 | +3.8pp |
| Not Stated | 2,791 | 10.8% | 9.0% | 1,858 | 8.0% | 8.0% | +933 | +2.8pp |
| Total | 25,736 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 23,287 | 100.0% | 100.0% | +2,449 | 0.0pp |