Research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has found more than half Australia’s households are changing working arrangements during the Coronavirus pandemic.
However, the AIFS research, Life During COVID-19, revealed that the division of childcare and household work had barely shifted.
Surveying more than 7,000 Australians over May and June, the AIFS sought to understand how the nation was adjusting to unprecedented lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures.
Director of AIFS, Anne Hollonds said the most significant changes reported by households were to employment, with 60 per cent of respondents now “always working from home”, compared to just seven per cent before COVID-19.
“For families with children, new working arrangements also meant major changes to childcare, with 64 per cent of respondents now solely relying on parent-only care, compared to 30 per cent before the pandemic,” Ms Hollonds said.
“However, they have not transformed the way mothers and fathers shared child-care and housework responsibilities.”
She said families, in particular mothers, were caught in a juggling act between work and kids.
“Seven in 10 parents reported they were either ‘actively’ or ‘passively’ caring for children while they worked, but women were still five times more likely to take on the primary caring role,” Ms Hollonds said.
“Even though we’re all spending so much more time at home, entrenched gender patterns are still evident, with women still taking on more of the household duties than men.”
On questions relating to the economic impact of the pandemic, younger participants reported being the hardest hit, with 30 per cent of under-30s reporting a decrease in income, 21 per cent reporting job loss and 21 per cent reporting changes to their living arrangements during COVID-19.
“People aged 18-to-29 were three times more likely to have asked for financial support from friends or family during COVID‑19, and almost four times more likely to ask for help from Government or none-Government organisations,” Ms Hollonds said.
The Life during COVID-19 survey is the first in a Families in Australia continuing series which is aimed at tracking how families are changing over time.
