Employment

Unpaid care

About this topic

Unpaid care records whether people aged 15 years and over spent time providing unpaid help or assistance to someone because of disability, long-term illness, or problems related to old age. It captures informal care provided by family members or others in the community.

This topic is useful for understanding the demand placed on informal carers and the likely need for support services, respite, and home-based assistance. It does not measure the intensity or duration of care, so it should be read alongside need for assistance and other health and ageing indicators.

Interpretation notes

  • This records whether a person aged 15 years and over provided unpaid help or assistance in the previous two weeks because of disability, long-term illness, or old age.
  • It identifies whether care was provided, not the intensity, frequency, or number of hours of care.

Key insight

In 2021, not providing unpaid care was the most common response among residents aged 15 and over in Loch Lomond, accounting for 80% (80 people). This share was higher than Southern Downs (R) (77.6%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in not providing unpaid care, which increased by 12 people and 9.2 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid care

Loch Lomond - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

This table summarises unpaid care for Loch Lomond in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Southern Downs (R) and change since 2016.

Unpaid care snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Loch Lomond, with comparison markers for Southern Downs (R).

Loch Lomond
Southern Downs (R)

Total Provided Unpaid Assistance

2021 count

17

% of total

17.0%

Change from 2016

+5.5pp

Total No Unpaid Assistance Provided

2021 count

80

% of total

80.0%

Change from 2016

+9.2pp

Total Unpaid Assistance Not Stated

2021 count

6

% of total

6.0%

Change from 2016

-8.6pp

Data table

Unpaid care for Loch Lomond. Unpaid care. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Southern Downs (R).

Unpaid care for Loch Lomond. Unpaid care. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Southern Downs (R).
Unpaid care for Loch Lomond. Unpaid care. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Southern Downs (R).
Category20212016Change
Count%Southern Downs (R)%Count%Southern Downs (R)%Countpp
Total Provided Unpaid Assistance1717.0%13.7%1111.5%13.1%+6+5.5pp
Total No Unpaid Assistance Provided8080.0%77.6%6870.8%77.4%+12+9.2pp
Total Unpaid Assistance Not Stated66.0%8.7%1414.6%9.6%-8-8.6pp
Total100100.0%100.0%96100.0%100.0%+40.0pp