Employment

Unpaid care

About this topic

Unpaid care records whether people aged 15 years and over spent time providing unpaid help or assistance to someone because of disability, long-term illness, or problems related to old age. It captures informal care provided by family members or others in the community.

This topic is useful for understanding the demand placed on informal carers and the likely need for support services, respite, and home-based assistance. It does not measure the intensity or duration of care, so it should be read alongside need for assistance and other health and ageing indicators.

Interpretation notes

  • This records whether a person aged 15 years and over provided unpaid help or assistance in the previous two weeks because of disability, long-term illness, or old age.
  • It identifies whether care was provided, not the intensity, frequency, or number of hours of care.

Key insight

In 2021, not providing unpaid care was the most common response among residents aged 15 and over in The Pocket, accounting for 68.7% (138 people). This share was lower than Byron (A) (78.1%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not providing unpaid care, which decreased by 17 people and 4.4 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid care

The Pocket - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

This table summarises unpaid care for The Pocket in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Byron (A) and change since 2016.

Unpaid care snapshot

2021 distribution by category for The Pocket, with comparison markers for Byron (A).

The Pocket
Byron (A)

Total Provided Unpaid Assistance

2021 count

32

% of total

15.9%

Change from 2016

+2.2pp

Total No Unpaid Assistance Provided

2021 count

138

% of total

68.7%

Change from 2016

-4.4pp

Total Unpaid Assistance Not Stated

2021 count

32

% of total

15.9%

Change from 2016

+1.7pp

Data table

Unpaid care for The Pocket. Unpaid care. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Byron (A).

Unpaid care for The Pocket. Unpaid care. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Byron (A).
Unpaid care for The Pocket. Unpaid care. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Byron (A).
Category20212016Change
Count%Byron (A)%Count%Byron (A)%Countpp
Total Provided Unpaid Assistance3215.9%11.1%2913.7%11.2%+3+2.2pp
Total No Unpaid Assistance Provided13868.7%78.1%15573.1%73.7%-17-4.4pp
Total Unpaid Assistance Not Stated3215.9%10.8%3014.2%15.1%+2+1.7pp
Total201100.0%100.0%212100.0%100.0%-110.0pp