More women working full-time but they’re still balancing caring responsibilities: ABS - Women's Agenda

More women working full-time but they’re still balancing caring responsibilities: ABS

Women are better educated and have more employment opportunities than ever, but the challenge of balancing work and family is still preventing them from reaching senior leadership roles according to a new report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The report, based on a range of different data-sets, found caring responsibilities are a key factor in why women may not push for promotions at work. It found that while women are increasingly returning to full-time work (in 2009/2010, 63% of families with dependent children had both parents employed), they’re still doing the majority of the caring work – both in terms of looking after children and elderly family members.

In 2006, the ABS found women with kids who work full-time spend an average 6.5 hours a day looking after the children, compared to four hours by men.

The report also lists unconscious bias and a lack of confidence as barriers to a woman’s career advancement. Both are difficult to measure, and both of these points are based on a report from June 2011.

The 2011 report also outlines five key benefits that women bring to an organisation when they’re in leadership positions. These include higher profits, greater risk-awareness, more productive staff due to better work and family integration, and a more contemporary approach to management focused on teamwork and participative decision making.

Despite these benefits, the new ABS report outlines how Australian women are still underrepresented in leadership across all sectors.

Leadership in the private sector
In the ASX200, only seven companies had a female CEO, a 1.3% increase since 2002. The representation of women on ASX200 boards has seen an increase, with women making up 12.3%, up from 8.4% in 2010.

The report states that comparatively, Australia “has fallen behind” other countries, with the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa all boasting high corporate leadership statistics for women.

Political and public service representation
The report found that women make up just under a third of our Federal Parliament. Of the 226 federal MPs in the lower house, only 66 (29%) are female. A similar ratio also exists in the Federal Labor Government, which has seven female ministers and 23 male ministers.

Women make up 38% of the Federal Senate, and 30% of the state and territory parliaments. While women account for more than half (59%) of the Commonwealth public service, only 39% of their senior executives are women.

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