Gender equality and caring

Carers support people with medical conditions or who have a disability, substance abuse issues, or those who are aged and/or frail.[ii] They may provide help and support with daily activities for the person being cared for, such as physical and personal care, or providing transport but it can also involve other forms of care such as providing emotional support, supervision, advocacy and service coordination.[iii] The term carer can also refer to people who care for minors. Workplace issues related to this type of caring are covered extensively in other areas of our website, such as in our parental leave resources.

Unpaid carers make significant social and economic contributions to Australia. Economic modelling undertaken by Deloitte found that Australian carers provided 2.2 billion hours of informal care each year, with the cost of replacing this care valued at $77.9 billion.[iv]

In addition to the major contribution that carers make by engaging in their caring responsibilities, many of them also engage in paid work, although they are less likely to be employed in a full-time capacity than non-carers.[v]

Over 2.6 million Australians, or close to 11% of the population, are carers. It is important to remember that anyone could become a carer at any time due to illness or injury, for any length of time. Although most carers are over the age of 55, young people can also be carers: 1 in 10 carers are aged 25 years or younger.[vi] The Australian population is ageing and the workforce is likely to see an increase in the number of employees that balance work with caring responsibilities.[vii] For this reason it is more important than ever to understand how we can support employees who also care.

Overall, carers may be:

• less likely to be employed in a full-time capacity
• less likely to work in less flexible industries or occupations
• more likely to experience discrimination in the workplace
• less likely to have professional development opportunities
• more likely to reduce their working hours
• more likely to take leave
• more likely to change their job or stop work altogether[viii]

Research shows that there are substantial differences in employment outcomes for carers and non-carers and there is further divide between primary and non-primary carers. Primary carers are carers who identify as the main person with caring responsibility.

• Over 70% of all carers are engaged in the labour force. However, only 58.8% of carers who are the main person caring for an individual (primary carers) are in paid employment.
• This figure drops drastically as the number of hours of caring increases, with only 28.6% of primary carers who provide 40 hours or more of unpaid care engaged in the paid labour force.[ix]
• A recent survey conducted by the Diversity Council Australia in partnership with Suncorp found that 35% of carers reported they had experienced discrimination in the workplace, this was 13% more than non-carers (22%).[x]

Supporting your employees with caring responsibilities can have positive impacts for your workplace, including:

• reduced costs of employee turnover
• increased productivity
• improved service delivery
• reduced stress and absenteeism
• enhanced attraction and recruitment
• increased morale
• a more resilient workplace[xi]

Historically, unpaid care has been undertaken mostly by women and this has correlated with women’s underrepresentation in the paid workforce.[xii] However, the proportion of women in the workforce almost reached parity with men, with women comprising 47.2% of the Australian workforce and men 52.8%.[xiii] As women enter the workforce in larger numbers, the challenge of balancing unpaid care with paid is increasing.

Currently, 12.3% of all women in Australia identify as a carer, and women represent 7 out of 10 primary carers (71.8%).[xiv]

The peak age for a female carer is 55, which is a time in life when many women may have recently transitioned out of child rearing only to assume caring responsibilities for a relative or friend. Conversely, the number of male carers peaks at age 75, which coincides with the Australian retirement age.[xv]

The compounding result of the disproportionate share of unpaid care is that women are:

• less likely to be able to engage in full-time paid work
• more likely to work part-time or casually
• more likely to work in occupations or industries that offer more flexibility
• more likely to experience interruptions to their career
• more likely to have a substantially lower superannuation balance at retirement
• more likely to experience depression or anxiety than non-carers[xvi]

A little over 9% of all Australian men identify as carers.[xvii] While men represent just 28% of primary carers they are just as likely as women to identify as non-primary carers.[xviii] Caring is all too often associated with being ‘women’s work’ and male carers may face specific challenges – including less access to support.

Research into men and caring roles in Australia has found that normalising and modelling flexible working arrangements can assist men to balance work with their caring responsibilities.

Data collected by the Diversity Council Australia in 2018 indicates that male carers report:

• higher instances of discrimination than male non-carers (25% to 14% non-carers)
• they are more likely to disagree with the statement that they can be themselves at work (16% to 10% non-carers); and
• they are more likely to disagree that they can progress at work (19% to 9% non-carers)[xix]

The assumption that caring is women’s work and the historical composition of women performing caring roles have left persistent stereotypes about who cares and what a carer looks like. The result is that male carers may be:

• less likely to publicly identify as a carer
• less likely to seek support from the community or their workplace
• less likely to be granted flexible working arrangements
• less able to access part-time work[xx]
• more likely to feel discriminated against in the workplace[xxi]