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 Urrbrae, accounting for 69.2% (605 people). This share was higher than Mitcham (C) (66.7%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not providing unpaid child care, which increased by 60 people and 2.7 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid childcare

Urrbrae - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

This table summarises unpaid childcare for Urrbrae in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Mitcham (C) and change since 2016.

Unpaid childcare snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Urrbrae, with comparison markers for Mitcham (C).

Urrbrae
Mitcham (C)

Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)

2021 count

253

% of total

28.9%

Change from 2016

-0.7pp

Cared For Own Child Ren

2021 count

183

% of total

20.9%

Change from 2016

+0.9pp

Cared For Other Child Ren

2021 count

70

% of total

8.0%

Change from 2016

-2.1pp

Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren

2021 count

0

% of total

0.0%

Change from 2016

-0.6pp

No Unpaid Child Care Provided

2021 count

605

% of total

69.2%

Change from 2016

+2.7pp

Not Stated

2021 count

11

% of total

1.3%

Change from 2016

-2.6pp

Data table

Unpaid childcare for Urrbrae. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Mitcham (C).

Unpaid childcare for Urrbrae. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Mitcham (C).
Unpaid childcare for Urrbrae. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Mitcham (C).
Category20212016Change
Count%Mitcham (C)%Count%Mitcham (C)%Countpp
Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)25328.9%30.5%24329.6%30.4%+10-0.7pp
Cared For Own Child Ren18320.9%21.3%16420.0%20.5%+19+0.9pp
Cared For Other Child Ren708.0%8.2%8310.1%8.9%-13-2.1pp
Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren00.0%0.9%50.6%1.0%-5-0.6pp
No Unpaid Child Care Provided60569.2%66.7%54566.5%64.4%+60+2.7pp
Not Stated111.3%2.8%323.9%5.2%-21-2.6pp
Total874100.0%100.0%820100.0%100.0%+540.0pp