Parenthood, policy and work-family time in Australia 1992—2006

Lyn Craig, Killian Mullan and Megan Blaxland
Additional contact information
Lyn Craig: Social Policy Research Group, University of New South Wales, lcraig@unsw.edu.au
Killian Mullan: Social Policy Research Group, University of New South Wales, k.mullan@unsw.edu.au
Megan Blaxland: Social Policy Research Group, University of New South Wales, m.blaxland@unsw.edu.au

Work, Employment & Society, 2010, vol. 24, issue 1, 27-45

Abstract: This article explores how having children impacted upon (a) paid work, domestic work and childcare (total workload) and (b) the gender division of labour in Australia over a 15-year period during which government changed from the progressive Labor Party to the socially conservative National/Liberal Party Coalition. It describes changes and continuity in government policies and rhetoric about work, family and gender issues and trends in workforce participation. Data from three successive nationally representative Time Use Surveys (1992, 1997 and 2006), N=3846, are analysed. The difference between parents’ and non-parents’ total workload grew substantially under both governments, especially for women. In households with children there was a nascent trend to gender convergence in paid and unpaid work under Labor, which reversed under the Coalition.

Keywords: Australia; family policy; gendered division of labour; parenthood; time use; women’s policy; work-family (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:24:y:2010:i:1:p:27-45

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