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Location: Home  »  Work and Education  » Work and Economic Security  » Work and Family

Work and Family

Women's participation in paid work has increased substantially over the last two decades. Women's increasing labour force participation makes the question of how parents best manage work and family responsibilities a crucial one for Australian society.

• Caring responsibilities for those who care for children, people with disabilities and the elderly are a major consideration in decisions around balancing work and family activities.
• Women continue to be the major carers of children, spending two to three times as much time with children when compared to men. Men are also less likely than women to perform child care at the same time as other tasks or to be interrupted by other duties and assist rather than take responsibility for child care (Lyn Craig, 2004, The Hidden Cost of Parenthood: the impact of children on adult time).
• Women are more likely to be caring for people with disabilities and the elderly. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that in 2003, 2.5 million people (15% of the population aged 15 years and over) provided informal care, with 54.1% of carers being female (ABS (2005) Australian Social Trends, Cat. No. 4102.0).

The Office for Women recently contributed to the former Department of Family and Community Services submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into Balancing Work and Family. This submission included information on family payments, support for women, carers, Indigenous families, child care, the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy and the National Agenda for Early Childhood.