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 Upper Barron, accounting for 63.3% (255 people). This share was lower than Tablelands (R) (67.4%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in provided Unpaid Child Care (All), which increased by 31 people and 4.3 percentage points.

Section overview

Unpaid childcare

Upper Barron - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)

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

Unpaid childcare snapshot

2021 distribution by category for Upper Barron, with comparison markers for Tablelands (R).

Upper Barron
Tablelands (R)

Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)

2021 count

110

% of total

27.3%

Change from 2016

+4.3pp

Cared For Own Child Ren

2021 count

71

% of total

17.6%

Change from 2016

+2.7pp

Cared For Other Child Ren

2021 count

37

% of total

9.2%

Change from 2016

+2.8pp

Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren

2021 count

6

% of total

1.5%

Change from 2016

+0.6pp

No Unpaid Child Care Provided

2021 count

255

% of total

63.3%

Change from 2016

-7.8pp

Not Stated

2021 count

40

% of total

9.9%

Change from 2016

+3.5pp

Data table

Unpaid childcare for Upper Barron. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Tablelands (R).

Unpaid childcare for Upper Barron. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Tablelands (R).
Unpaid childcare for Upper Barron. Unpaid childcare. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Tablelands (R).
Category20212016Change
Count%Tablelands (R)%Count%Tablelands (R)%Countpp
Provided Unpaid Child Care (All)11027.3%21.6%7923.0%23.9%+31+4.3pp
Cared For Own Child Ren7117.6%14.7%5114.9%16.3%+20+2.7pp
Cared For Other Child Ren379.2%6.1%226.4%6.8%+15+2.8pp
Cared For Own Child Ren And Other Child Ren61.5%0.7%30.9%0.9%+3+0.6pp
No Unpaid Child Care Provided25563.3%67.4%24471.1%64.7%+11-7.8pp
Not Stated409.9%11.0%226.4%11.3%+18+3.5pp
Total403100.0%100.0%343100.0%100.0%+600.0pp