ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the average effects of the pandemic and short-term impacts of lockdowns on men and women's time spent on paid and unpaid work in Australia. Using data from an ongoing household panel study, it shows that within-couple gender gaps in paid and unpaid work have been closing slowly but steadily for the past 20 years among heterosexual couples with children. Yet gaps remain large, with mothers spending 15 fewer hours/week on paid work and 20 more hours/week on unpaid work than fathers. The pandemic had short-term impacts, widening the gender gap in unpaid labour among families affected by prolonged stay-at-home lockdowns, where mothers disproportionately increased their time spent caring for children. However, these impacts were not reflected in trends for the country average, which showed a continued closing gender gap in paid and unpaid work. Overall, the pandemic had a targeted and fleeting impact on couples’ time use, pointing to the ingrained and systemic nature of the gender division of labour and the need for sustained intervention to realise gender equality in time use arrangements.
