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 Calen, accounting for 53.8% (183 people). This share was lower than Mackay (R) (65.7%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not doing unpaid domestic work, which increased by 17 people and 0.4 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid domestic work

Calen - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

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

Unpaid domestic work snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Calen, with comparison markers for Mackay (R).

Calen
Mackay (R)

Did Unpaid Domestic Work

2021 count

183

% of total

53.8%

Change from 2016

-10.9pp

Less Than 5 Hours

2021 count

47

% of total

13.8%

Change from 2016

+0.1pp

Between 5 And 14 Hours

2021 count

74

% of total

21.8%

Change from 2016

-2.3pp

Between 15 And 29 Hours

2021 count

29

% of total

8.5%

Change from 2016

-5.9pp

30 Hours Or More

2021 count

33

% of total

9.7%

Change from 2016

-2.9pp

Did No Unpaid Domestic Work

2021 count

87

% of total

25.6%

Change from 2016

+0.4pp

Not Stated

2021 count

67

% of total

19.7%

Change from 2016

+6.8pp

Data table

Unpaid domestic work for Calen. Unpaid domestic work. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Mackay (R).

Unpaid domestic work for Calen. Unpaid domestic work. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Mackay (R).
Unpaid domestic work for Calen. Unpaid domestic work. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Mackay (R).
Category20212016Change
Count%Mackay (R)%Count%Mackay (R)%Countpp
Did Unpaid Domestic Work18353.8%65.7%18064.7%69.9%+3-10.9pp
Less Than 5 Hours4713.8%18.8%3813.7%20.2%+9+0.1pp
Between 5 And 14 Hours7421.8%26.3%6724.1%26.5%+7-2.3pp
Between 15 And 29 Hours298.5%11.3%4014.4%12.3%-11-5.9pp
30 Hours Or More339.7%9.3%3512.6%11.0%-2-2.9pp
Did No Unpaid Domestic Work8725.6%23.8%7025.2%19.5%+17+0.4pp
Not Stated6719.7%10.5%3612.9%10.6%+31+6.8pp
Total340100.0%100.0%278100.0%100.0%+620.0pp