A new study from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed women believe their everyday lives have been affected more by COVID-10 than men believe theirs have.
From the study conducted in May, a larger amount of women than men reported doing more cooking and housework, but also indulging in more hobbies and sleep.
The study also found men see themselves doing more, but consider their lives less changed by COVID-19 than women.
Almost 40 per cent of women said they were doing more cooking than a month ago, while less than 30 per cent of men reported the same.
More women (35.2 percent) were caring for an adult not in their home compared to men (20.3 per cent).
This correlates with recent studies published by B&T, which showed that not only are women hit hardest in COVID-19, but caring for aging parents also fell on women’s shoulders.
According to recent surveys by LeanIn.org and Survey Monkey conducted in April, one in four women say they are experiencing severe anxiety with physical symptoms, while only one in 10 men say the same.
And, 31 per cent of women with full-time jobs and families say they have more to do than they can handle by themselves. This is in contrast to 13 per cent of working men with families. And while these stats are out of the US, they’re not dissimilar to Australia.
Meanwhile, caring for elderly parents is emerging as a new layer of diversity, with very little support in place by many organisations. And, it is women who primarily take on this role, again limiting their ability to climb the corporate ladder.
Recent research from Honeycomb Strategy in May 2020 found more than two thirds (70 per cent) of women anticipate that in the future they will need to take on the responsibility of caring for an elderly or sick parent in either a full time or part time capacity, compared to only one in two (54 per cent) of men.
