Coronavirus alters ‘women’s day-to-day lives more than men’s’

A higher proportion of women than men report doing more cooking, more housework, spending more time on screens and indulging in hobbies.

W O M E N

Women say their day-to-day lives are being changed more by COVID-19 than men believe theirs are, new research reveals.

A higher proportion of women than men report doing more cooking, more housework, spending more time on screens and ­indulging in hobbies, doing more exercise and even sleeping more over the past month, Australian ­Bureau of Statistics data shows.

Men also see themselves doing more, but consider their lives less altered than women, the ABS household activity data finds.

Nearly 40 per cent of women surveyed at the end of May said they were doing more cooking and baking than a month ago, while just under 30 per cent of men said the same.

A greater proportion (35.2 per cent) of women were doing more caring for an adult not in their home compared with a month ago than men (20.3 per cent).

Generic family dinner. iStock picture

Even on the personal improvement side, women said they were doing more. One in four (26.5 per cent) said they were doing more exercise than a month ago (with 16.5 per cent doing less), compared with 21.1 per cent of men (with 16.1 per cent doing less).

Time spent reading or engaging in a hobby was on the up for women as well, with 40.8 per cent saying they were doing more at the end of May than at the end of April. For men it was 31.5 per cent.

Screens are increasingly dominating lives of both genders during COVID. Nearly half (48.2 per cent) of women surveyed said they were spending more time on phones, iPads, computers and TVs than a month ago, with just 4.5 per cent of women saying they were spending less time.

The numbers were again lower for men (40.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively).

About 15 per cent of women said they were sleeping more than a month ago, with 7 per cent saying they were sleeping less.

Just 7.7 per cent of men said they were sleeping more.

The ABS household activity survey of 1000 people, taken at the end of May as a number of COVID-19 social restrictions were being eased, also revealed a mixed response to new freedoms.

Three in five Australians were looking forward to larger gatherings of family and friends (62 per cent) and dining in at restaurants (61 per cent), but more than three in four (76 per cent) remained uncomfortable about participating in large public events.

And 66 per cent were uncomfortable about attending indoor gatherings of more than 100.

A majority was also uncomfortable with flying or travelling by public transport (63 per cent and 59 per cent).

“The vast majority of working Australians, 86 per cent, were at least somewhat comfortable in resuming usual attendance at the workplace; of those with children, 81 per cent were somewhat comfortable with sending children back to school or childcare,” ABS program manager for household surveys Michelle Marquardt said.