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Location: Home  »  Work and Education  » Unpaid Work  » Unpaid Work and the Australian Economy

Unpaid Work and the Australian Economy

Women contribute around two thirds of the estimated value of total unpaid work in Australia.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated the value of unpaid work in Australia in Occasional Paper: Unpaid Work and the Australian Economy (ABS Cat no 5240.0), based on data collected in the 1997 Time Use Survey.

The main findings of the Occasional Paper: Unpaid Work and the Australian Economy (using the ABS' preferred 'individual function replacement cost' estimation methodology) were:

• Total unpaid work is made up of unpaid household services provided for household consumption (unpaid household work) and volunteer and community work provided free of charge to others.
• Unpaid household work accounted for 91 per cent of the estimated value of total unpaid work in 1997.
• The value of total unpaid work in 1997 was estimated to be about $261 billion (48 per cent of GDP), compared with about $225 billion in 1992 (54 per cent of GDP).
• Women contributed 63 per cent of the estimated value of total unpaid work in 1997 (65 per cent in 1992).
• The average time spent on unpaid household work fell by one per cent between 1992 and 1997 while average time spent on volunteering rose by 10 per cent. The time spent on all unpaid work did not change.
• The estimate of the value of total unpaid work as a proportion of GDP in Australia is comparable with estimates made in other countries which have conducted studies using similar methodology (the estimates range between around 40 to 60 per cent of GDP, with the exception of Germany where the estimate is 71 per cent of GDP).
• Estimates of the value of total unpaid work as a proportion of GDP vary according to the methodology used. However, regardless of the methodology used, women contribute around two thirds of the estimated value of total unpaid work in Australia.

The ABS paper includes a substantial appendix discussing the issues which would have to be addressed if household unpaid work were included as a satellite account, as recommended in the 1993 revision of the System of National Accounts (SNA93). A satellite account is separate from, but consistent with, existing national accounts. The issue of standard international methodologies and guidelines for unpaid work remains a matter of continuing debate and discussion.