Men and women spend similar time undertaking all forms of work (both paid and unpaid) but some mums want more paid work hours according to the Gender Indicators, Australia publication released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The rate of underemployment is twice as high for women (8%) than for men (4%).

In 2006 dads in full time employment with children under 15 years spent 10 hours 32 minutes a day (on average) in all forms of work, compared with 10 hours 47 minutes for mums employed full time.

New ABS data shows in 2010-11 the underemployment rate for dads whose youngest child was under 6 years was 2.8%, while for mums it was 8.6%. When the youngest child was school-aged, the underemployment rate was much higher for mums at 10.2%. 

In 2010-11 men employed full-time spent 4 hours more per week working in employment than their female counterparts (41.3 compared to 37.2 hours). Mums with children under 6 years and employed full-time worked fewer hours in employment (33.1 hours) but their hours increased when their youngest child was of school age (37.7 hours). Fathers in full time employment worked in employment about the same hours, on average, as did all men employed full time. 

Women also volunteer more than men (38% compared to 34% in 2010). The rate was highest in women aged 45-54 years with school-aged children (10% compared to 3% for men with school-aged children).

The second release of Gender Indicators, Australia, includes new data and commentaries representing the differences between men and women in the major areas of social concern for gender equality. New to this edition, a summary page of the key indicators of gender equality, and interactive graphs showing changes over time.

To see the full range of indicators, and changes over time, see the full online product, Gender Indicators, Australia (cat. no. 4125.0).