Whether it’s looking after children, elderly family members or your neighbour, HESTA knows that many of you are actively providing unpaid care. 

This unpaid care may be in addition to your paid job. Or perhaps your caregiving responsibilities have meant you’ve needed to reduce your hours at work, which may also be impacting your finances and even how much money you’ll have at retirement. 

HESTA believes in using their collective voice to help address inequities impacting their members and those who may be falling behind. That’s why they partnered with the McKell Institute to conduct research to better understand how unpaid care responsibilities are affecting HESTA members. 

The impact of unpaid care on HESTA members 

According to our survey of HESTA members*, an average of 28 hours a week is spent providing unpaid care. That’s the equivalent of 3.5 average working days. 

The data also shows this unpaid care is more likely to be undertaken by women, with 88 per cent of caregiver respondents being female. 

66 per cent of respondents under 50 not in full-time employment said they would work more paid hours if they didn’t have unpaid caring duties, which in turn would boost their income and superannuation. 

The most trying aspect of providing unpaid care, noted by 92 per cent of respondents, was the impact on their mental health of juggling unpaid care with paid responsibilities. 51 per cent reported they don’t share their caring duties with anyone. This means many carry the burden of unpaid care – and the personal or financial consequences of that care – alone. 

Measuring unpaid care 

It’s clear from the research that many of you who are working while providing unpaid care may be facing significant financial strain and noticing an impact on your mental health, family, and community wellbeing. 

That’s why HESTA recognises the importance of measuring unpaid care, and they welcome the Federal Government’s decision to increase the frequency of time-use surveys to capture national data on unpaid care work. 

Formally measuring the role of unpaid care work in Australia can help to recognise its impact on Australians’ financial wellbeing, economic contribution, and help improve equity in retirement savings. 

Learn more about the McKell Institute’s recommendations. 

If this resonates with you, you may be interested to learn about Ask Izzy**, a free directory provided by HESTA partner Infoxchange. This service helps Australians find and access local support services, including financial assistance and mental health counselling. 

To join a top-performing super fund that’s working for real-world impact, sign up with HESTA. 

*Research studies conducted among a representative sample of HESTA members from November 2022 to September 2023.  

** Ask Izzy is owned and operated by Infoxchange ABN 74 457 506 140. Third-party services are provided by parties other than H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd and under the terms and conditions of those parties. H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd does not recommend, endorse or accept any responsibility for the products and services offered by third parties or any liability for loss or damage incurred as a result of services provided by third parties. You should exercise your own judgment about the products and services being offered. 

Issued by H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd ABN 66 006 818 895 AFSL 235249, the Trustee of HESTA ABN 64 971 749 321. This information is of a general nature. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or specific needs so you should look at your own financial position and requirements before making a decision. You may wish to consult an adviser when doing this. The target market determination for HESTA products can be found at hesta.com.au/tmd and for HESTA for Mercy products at hestaformercy.com.au/tmd. Before making a decision about HESTA or HESTA for Mercy products you should read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (for a copy HESTA – call 1800 813 327 or visit hesta.com.au/pds; HESTA for Mercy – call 1300 368 891 or visit hestaformercy.com.au) and consider any relevant risks (visit hesta.com.au/pds or hestaformercy.com.au/pds). © Copyright H.E.S.T. Australia Limited 2024.