Unpaid labour and mental health–the role of perceived fairness and satisfaction in division amongst working-age adults; a longitudinal analysis using 18 waves of panel data

Abstract

Across the globe, the division of unpaid labour remains highly gendered and unequally shared. This has consequences for women's economic security and their ability to participate equally in paid work. Whilst unpaid labour time has been shown to be associated with poorer mental health, understanding how the unequal division of unpaid labour impacts mental health requires further scrutiny. Utilising 18 annual waves (2005–2022) of the HILDA survey, this study employed Mundlak modelling to examine the longitudinal association between perceptions of fairness and satisfaction in the division of key unpaid labour domains (household work and childcare) and mental health in working-age Australians (n..