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 Ringtail Creek, accounting for 73.4% (130 people). This share was higher than Noosa (S) (71.1%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not providing unpaid child care, which decreased by 5,845 people, while its share rose by 6.9 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid childcare

Ringtail Creek - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

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

Unpaid childcare snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Ringtail Creek, with comparison markers for Noosa (S).

Ringtail Creek
Noosa (S)

Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)

2021 count

34

% of total

19.2%

Change from 2016

-2.9pp

Cared For Own Child Ren

2021 count

31

% of total

17.5%

Change from 2016

+3.7pp

Cared For Other Child Ren

2021 count

7

% of total

4.0%

Change from 2016

-3.6pp

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

130

% of total

73.4%

Change from 2016

+6.9pp

Not Stated

2021 count

9

% of total

5.1%

Change from 2016

-6.3pp

Data table

Unpaid childcare for Ringtail Creek. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Noosa (S).

Unpaid childcare for Ringtail Creek. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Noosa (S).
Unpaid childcare for Ringtail Creek. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Noosa (S).
Category20212016Change
Count%Noosa (S)%Count%Noosa (S)%Countpp
Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)3419.2%22.3%1,98322.1%24.8%-1,949-2.9pp
Cared For Own Child Ren3117.5%16.6%1,23913.8%17.6%-1,208+3.7pp
Cared For Other Child Ren74.0%5.1%6867.6%6.5%-679-3.6pp
Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren00.0%0.5%560.6%0.7%-56-0.6pp
No Unpaid Child Care Provided13073.4%71.1%5,97566.5%66.8%-5,845+6.9pp
Not Stated95.1%6.6%1,02511.4%8.4%-1,016-6.3pp
Total177100.0%100.0%8,988100.0%100.0%-8,8110.0pp