Employment

Unpaid childcare

About this topic

Unpaid childcare records whether people aged 15 years and over spent time looking after a child without pay, including their own children and other people's children. It reflects the role of parents, grandparents, extended family, and community networks in caring for children.

This topic helps show how childcare is supported outside the paid care sector and can highlight the role of family-based care. It is best interpreted with household type, employment, and income, because unpaid childcare patterns are shaped by family structure, work arrangements, and access to formal childcare.

Interpretation notes

  • This records unpaid childcare in the previous two weeks for people aged 15 years and over, including care for a person's own children and other children.
  • It identifies whether childcare was provided, not the number of hours or whether care was regular, occasional, or shared with formal services.

Key insight

In 2021, not providing unpaid child care was the most common response among residents aged 15 and over in Roelands, accounting for 60.3% (443 people). This share was lower than Harvey (S) (64%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not providing unpaid child care, which increased by 401 people, while its share fell by 14.7 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid childcare

Roelands - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

This table summarises unpaid childcare for Roelands in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Harvey (S) and change since 2016.

Unpaid childcare snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Roelands, with comparison markers for Harvey (S).

Roelands
Harvey (S)

Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)

2021 count

247

% of total

33.6%

Change from 2016

+5.0pp

Cared For Own Child Ren

2021 count

180

% of total

24.5%

Change from 2016

+4.9pp

Cared For Other Child Ren

2021 count

64

% of total

8.7%

Change from 2016

+8.7pp

Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren

2021 count

5

% of total

0.7%

Change from 2016

+0.7pp

No Unpaid Child Care Provided

2021 count

443

% of total

60.3%

Change from 2016

-14.7pp

Not Stated

2021 count

41

% of total

5.6%

Change from 2016

+0.2pp

Data table

Unpaid childcare for Roelands. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Harvey (S).

Unpaid childcare for Roelands. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Harvey (S).
Unpaid childcare for Roelands. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Harvey (S).
Category20212016Change
Count%Harvey (S)%Count%Harvey (S)%Countpp
Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)24733.6%30.3%1628.6%31.9%+231+5.0pp
Cared For Own Child Ren18024.5%21.7%1119.6%23.1%+169+4.9pp
Cared For Other Child Ren648.7%7.3%00.0%7.6%+64+8.7pp
Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren50.7%1.2%00.0%1.1%+5+0.7pp
No Unpaid Child Care Provided44360.3%64.0%4275.0%58.9%+401-14.7pp
Not Stated415.6%5.7%35.4%9.2%+38+0.2pp
Total735100.0%100.0%56100.0%100.0%+6790.0pp