It’s no secret that not every kind of work earns a payslip. Some of it happens behind closed doors, in kitchens and living rooms. Yet despite the invisibility of this unpaid labour, without it, the world as we know it wouldn\u2019t run.<\/p>\n
Now, new research published in The Economic Record<\/em><\/a> has revealed the true value of Australia\u2019s unpaid labour, and it\u2019s a staggering $688 billion a year. That\u2019s about one-third of the nation\u2019s GDP, and most of it is carried by women.<\/p>\n Economist Dr Leonora Risse, author of the study, measured what this unpaid labour would be worth if it were compensated like any other job. She calculated its value by matching each task to an equivalent wage: a childcare worker\u2019s hourly rate for caring for children, a domestic cleaner\u2019s for household chores, a kitchen hand\u2019s for cooking.<\/p>\n When the maths is done, women\u2019s unpaid labour adds up to A$427 billion annually, compared to A$261 billion for men. Women also spend significantly more time on these tasks \u2013 nearly four hours a day, versus men\u2019s two and a half.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If unpaid work were recognised in official economic statistics, women\u2019s share of total labour would jump from 36.8 per cent to 47.2 per cent.<\/p>\n The picture gets even more interesting when we adjust for bias. Many of the roles used to calculate unpaid work \u2013 childcare, cleaning, domestic support \u2013 are undervalued because they\u2019re female-dominated sectors, which are often paid less precisely because of gender.<\/a><\/p>\n Risse\u2019s research compensates for this by factoring in what she calls the “gender discount” applied to these jobs. Once this undervaluation is corrected, women\u2019s contribution climbs again \u2013 to 50.5% of all labour in Australia. In other words, if unpaid work were properly recognised, women would account for half the country\u2019s total labour effort.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n These numbers reframe how we think about the economy itself. While GDP measures production through wages and market prices, it overlooks the domestic and emotional infrastructure that allows paid work to exist at all. Recognising unpaid work doesn\u2019t just alter the figures, but it also redefines what we consider valuable in the first place.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\nWomen\u2019s unpaid work makes up almost half of Australia\u2019s labour<\/h3>\n
Why this matters<\/h3>\n