Band 8+: The diagram below shows the average hours of unpaid work per week done by people in different categories. (Unpaid work refers to such activities as childcare in the home, housework and gardening.) Describe the information presented below, comparing results for men and women in the categories shown. Suggest reasons for what you see.

The bar chart shows the average number of hours of unpaid work done by men and women each week in different family situations. Unpaid work includes childcare, housework and gardening.

Overall, women spent far more time on unpaid work than men in every category shown. Women’s unpaid work increased greatly when they had children, while men’s hours stayed almost the same regardless of family size.

Women without children did around 30 hours of unpaid work per week, compared with about 18 hours for men. For families with one or two children, women’s hours rose to just over 50, while men still did only about 18 hours.

In households with three or more children, women did the most unpaid work at around 55 hours per week, whereas men’s contribution dropped slightly to about 15 hours.

One reason for these differences may be that women often take on more childcare and housework duties, especially in larger families. Men may spend more time in paid employment, which limits the amount of unpaid work they can do at home.