Australian fathers with young families do more childcare and have a heavier overall workload – paid and unpaid – than their counterparts in other wealthy countries.
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University of NSW researcher Dr Lyn Craig compared the time use of families with children aged under four in five wealthy nations and found Australian fathers spent more time on paid work, childcare and housework combined than the other countries surveyed.
Australian fathers with young families spent 10.51 hours a day on paid and unpaid work – more than in the United States, Italy, Denmark and France. Fathers in France had the easiest workload - an average of about 8.5 hours a day.
The time devoted to childcare by Australian fathers with young children was equal highest with Denmark, which has a reputation for its generous policies to encourage fathers to get involved in childcare. Dr Craig said Australian time-use surveys showed fathers and mothers have increased the time they spend minding children in recent years.
Australian mothers with young children also spent more time on paid work, childcare and housework than comparable women in United States, Italy, Denmark and France. Australian mothers did more childcare but less paid work than women with young children in those countries.
Australian mothers and fathers with children under four together spent an average of nearly 22 hours a day on paid work, childcare and housework which was the highest total household workload of the five countries surveyed.
"Women and men in Australia are stacking more work, plus more time with children, into their days," Dr Craig said. "That time commitment is very high in world terms."
Dr Craig said Australia's expensive childcare system, the lack of flexible work arrangements for full-time male workers and even the tax system contributed to the heavy workload of those with young children.
"At the moment there's not much flexibility for either men to take on more care responsibilities, or for women to do more work, without adding even more stress on households," she said.
The overall workload of Australian mothers with children aged under four (10.83 hours on average) was higher than for Australian men with children the same age.
