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 Paringa, accounting for 70.4% (661 people). This share was similar to Renmark Paringa (DC) (70.3%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not providing unpaid child care, which increased by 55 people and 4.3 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid childcare

Paringa - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

This table summarises unpaid childcare for Paringa in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Renmark Paringa (DC) and change since 2016.

Unpaid childcare snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Paringa, with comparison markers for Renmark Paringa (DC).

Paringa
Renmark Paringa (DC)

Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)

2021 count

194

% of total

20.7%

Change from 2016

-2.3pp

Cared For Own Child Ren

2021 count

146

% of total

15.5%

Change from 2016

+0.3pp

Cared For Other Child Ren

2021 count

43

% of total

4.6%

Change from 2016

-1.8pp

Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren

2021 count

9

% of total

1.0%

Change from 2016

-0.1pp

No Unpaid Child Care Provided

2021 count

661

% of total

70.4%

Change from 2016

+4.3pp

Not Stated

2021 count

82

% of total

8.7%

Change from 2016

-2.5pp

Data table

Unpaid childcare for Paringa. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Renmark Paringa (DC).

Unpaid childcare for Paringa. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Renmark Paringa (DC).
Unpaid childcare for Paringa. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Renmark Paringa (DC).
Category20212016Change
Count%Renmark Paringa (DC)%Count%Renmark Paringa (DC)%Countpp
Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)19420.7%22.4%21123.0%24.2%-17-2.3pp
Cared For Own Child Ren14615.5%16.0%13915.2%16.4%+7+0.3pp
Cared For Other Child Ren434.6%5.8%596.4%7.0%-16-1.8pp
Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren91.0%0.6%101.1%0.8%-1-0.1pp
No Unpaid Child Care Provided66170.4%70.3%60666.1%66.0%+55+4.3pp
Not Stated828.7%7.3%10311.2%9.8%-21-2.5pp
Total939100.0%100.0%917100.0%100.0%+220.0pp