Understanding the unpaid work roles amongst households, during COVID-19

•A major strength of this study is its large sample size. This led to capturing unique individuals, and their perspective of changes in unpaid work roles•This study showed that older women who were in a relationship and experienced additional household members such as dependent children or sick older adults, were faced with more changes in unpaid work roles during COVID-19, than other individuals.•This study highlights that society should give more recognition to the division of unpaid work roles, so that it does not limit the advancement of any gender's career within society.