‘I Didn’t Realise There Are So Many of Them’: Ethnic Chinese Women in Civic Life in Australia

Figures & data

Table 1. Rates of Volunteering in Australia (various cohorts, 2016)

	Australia-born	Ethnic Chinese	Total Australian
Men	15.0%	11.4%	13.8%
Women	18.7%	14.9%	17.1%
Volunteer rate	16.9%	13.3%	15.5%
% women in population	50.5%	53.9%	50.7%
% women in volunteers	56.0%	60.4%	56.1%

Source: ABS (2016)

Table 2. Voluntary Work for an Organisation or Group by Labour Force Status and Hours Worked, People of Chinese Ancestry in Australia (2016)

	Men		Women
Employed, worked full-time	24,712	41.7%	23,434	25.9%
Employed, worked part-time	9,280	15.7%	21,919	24.2%
Employed, away from work	663	1.1%	1,429	1.6%
Employed, hours of work not stated	394	0.7%	536	0.6%
Unemployed, looking for full-time work	2,270	3.8%	2,502	2.8%
Unemployed, looking for part-time work	3,099	5.2%	5,416	6.0%
Not in the labour force	18,789	31.7%	35,215	38.9%
Labour force status not stated	44	0.1%	99	0.1%
Not applicable	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Total	59,260	100.0%	90,548	100.0%

Source: ABS (2016)

Table 3. Engagement with Childcare by Volunteers of Chinese Ancestry (2016)

	Men	Women			Total
Did not provide childcare	43,077	72.7	61,330	67.7	104,404
Cared for own child/children	12,826	21.6	21,929	24.2	34,759
Cared for other child/children	2,870	4.8	6,117	6.8	8,982
Cared for own child/children and other child/children	251	0.4	829	0.9	1,082
Not stated	237	0.4	347	0.4	589
Total	59,260	100.0	90,548	100.0	149,809

Source: ABS (2016)

Table 4. Engagement in Unpaid Domestic Work, Ethnic Chinese Volunteers, Men and Women (2016)

Number of Hours	Male Volunteers		Female Volunteers		Total
Nil hours	3,188	12.9%	2,454	10.5%	5,643	11.7%
Less than 5 hours	9,741	39.4%	7,808	33.3%	17,545	36.4%
5 to 14 hours	9,413	38.1%	9,094	38.8%	18,507	38.4%
15 to 29 hours	1,843	7.5%	3,039	13.0%	4,881	10.1%
30 hours or more	462	1.9%	950	4.1%	1,409	2.9%
Not stated	65	0.3%	85	0.4%	150	0.3%
Not applicable	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Total	24,712	100.0%	23,434	100.0%	48,145	100.0%

Source: ABS (2016)

Table

Pseudonym	Gender	Place of Origin	Date of Interview	Length of Stay in Australia
Peter	Male	Mainland China	3 August 2017	30–40 years
Sam	Male	Mainland China	28 October 2018	10–20 years
Mary	Female	Taiwan (China)	1 November 2016	40–50 years
Tom	Male	Mainland China	7 December 2017	10–20 years
Alice	Female	Vietnam	4 March 2018	40–50 years
Jack	Male	Vietnam	25 March 2018	20–30 years
Charles	Male	Mainland China	4 June 2018	10–20 years
Harrison	Male	Mainland China	7 December 2017	10–20 years
Simon	Male	Mainland China	13 May 2017	1–10 years
Jane	Female	Mainland China	11 September 2016	1–10 years
Tina	Female	Mainland China	9 October 2016	1–10 years
James	Male	Mainland China	17 May 2017	20-30 years
May	Female	Mainland China	22 April 2016	1–10 years
Ella	Female	Mainland China	6 March 2016	30–40 years
Allan	Male	Hong Kong (China)	7 March 2018	> 50 years
Melisa	Female	Hong Kong (China)	10 April 2018	> 50 years
Kevin	Male	Mainland China	10 April 2018	> 50 years
Helen	Female	Mainland China	13 April 2018	30–40 years
Joey	Female	Mainland China	14 April 2018	1–10 years
Henry	Male	Mainland China	28 October 2018	30–40 years
Amelia	Female	Mainland China	6 August 2017	1–5 years
Ziggy	Female	Mainland China	26 July 2018	10–20 years
Lily	Female	Mainland China	11 September 2018	10–20 years
Fred	Male	Mainland China	6 September 2017	1–10 years
Francis	Male	Mainland China	13 January 2017	30–40 years
Zoe	Female	Mainland China	11 June 2017	1–10 years

ABS [Australian Bureau of Statistics]. (2016). Tablebuilder [Database]. https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/tablebuilder

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