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, provided Unpaid Child Care (All) was the most common response among residents aged 15 and over in Namatjira, accounting for 67.8% (82 people). This share was higher than MacDonnell (R) (39.8%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in provided Unpaid Child Care (All), which increased by 62 people and 55.5 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid childcare

Namatjira - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

This table summarises unpaid childcare for Namatjira in 2021 for persons, with comparison against MacDonnell (R) and change since 2016.

Unpaid childcare snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Namatjira, with comparison markers for MacDonnell (R).

Namatjira
MacDonnell (R)

Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)

2021 count

82

% of total

67.8%

Change from 2016

+55.5pp

Cared For Own Child Ren

2021 count

22

% of total

18.2%

Change from 2016

+16.3pp

Cared For Other Child Ren

2021 count

53

% of total

43.8%

Change from 2016

+37.0pp

Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren

2021 count

5

% of total

4.1%

Change from 2016

+2.2pp

No Unpaid Child Care Provided

2021 count

34

% of total

28.1%

Change from 2016

+23.2pp

Not Stated

2021 count

8

% of total

6.6%

Change from 2016

-80.4pp

Data table

Unpaid childcare for Namatjira. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with MacDonnell (R).

Unpaid childcare for Namatjira. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with MacDonnell (R).
Unpaid childcare for Namatjira. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with MacDonnell (R).
Category20212016Change
Count%MacDonnell (R)%Count%MacDonnell (R)%Countpp
Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)8267.8%39.8%2012.3%35.2%+62+55.5pp
Cared For Own Child Ren2218.2%15.5%31.9%14.5%+19+16.3pp
Cared For Other Child Ren5343.8%19.4%116.8%15.6%+42+37.0pp
Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren54.1%4.7%31.9%5.0%+2+2.2pp
No Unpaid Child Care Provided3428.1%37.7%84.9%32.0%+26+23.2pp
Not Stated86.6%22.5%14187.0%32.9%-133-80.4pp
Total121100.0%100.0%162100.0%100.0%-410.0pp