Nearly a quarter of Australian adults with a job are working fewer hours due to the coronavirus pandemic, a survey has found.
At the same time, 12 per cent of Australians are working more hours than usual because of COVID-19, the Australian Bureau of Statics said on Monday.
Of those working fewer hours, 60 per cent said there had been a reduction in work available, while 15 per cent said they had been stood down by their employer.
The ABS surveyed 1059 people aged 18 and over via telephone between March 31 and April 6 to gain a snapshot as to how Australian households are responding to the pandemic.
“The survey found that around 3 per cent of people who had a job in early March no longer had one by early April,” said Michelle Marquardt, ABS program manager for household surveys.
The survey isn’t comparable to the official measures of Australia’s labour force, however.
The vast majority of survey respondents — 98 per cent — said they were practising social distancing, 88 per cent said they were avoiding public spaces and events and 17 per cent said they were wearing a face mask to help prevent the spread of the virus.
While the virus has proven to be significantly more lethal in men than women, the survey indicated males are worried about it less than females.
Just 62 per cent of men reported being “concerned” or “very concerned” for their personal health compared with 73 per cent of women.
