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 No usual address (NSW), accounting for 40.4% (4,089 people). This share was lower than New South Wales (66.6%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not doing unpaid domestic work, which decreased by 857 people and 4.2 percentage points.
Section overview
Unpaid domestic work
No usual address (NSW) - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)
This table summarises domestic work for No usual address (NSW) in 2021 for persons, with comparison against New South Wales and change since 2016.
Unpaid domestic work snapshot
2021 distribution by category for No usual address (NSW), with comparison markers for New South Wales.
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
-525
+0.4pp
Less Than 5 Hours
-415
-1.7pp
Between 5 And 14 Hours
-94
+1.1pp
Between 15 And 29 Hours
-6
+0.7pp
30 Hours Or More
-10
+0.4pp
Did No Unpaid Domestic Work
-857
-4.2pp
Not Stated
-52
+3.7pp
Data table
Domestic Work for No usual address (NSW). Unpaid domestic work. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with New South Wales.
| Category | 2021 | 2016 | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | % | New South Wales% | Count | % | New South Wales% | Count | pp | |
| Did Unpaid Domestic Work | 4,089 | 40.4% | 66.6% | 4,614 | 40.0% | 67.9% | -525 | +0.4pp |
| Less Than 5 Hours | 1,561 | 15.4% | 18.9% | 1,976 | 17.1% | 22.3% | -415 | -1.7pp |
| Between 5 And 14 Hours | 1,512 | 15.0% | 26.5% | 1,606 | 13.9% | 25.2% | -94 | +1.1pp |
| Between 15 And 29 Hours | 614 | 6.1% | 12.3% | 620 | 5.4% | 11.4% | -6 | +0.7pp |
| 30 Hours Or More | 402 | 4.0% | 8.9% | 412 | 3.6% | 9.0% | -10 | +0.4pp |
| Did No Unpaid Domestic Work | 2,643 | 26.1% | 26.8% | 3,500 | 30.3% | 23.5% | -857 | -4.2pp |
| Not Stated | 3,376 | 33.4% | 6.6% | 3,428 | 29.7% | 8.6% | -52 | +3.7pp |
| Total | 10,112 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 11,545 | 100.0% | 100.0% | -1,433 | 0.0pp |