Unpaid care

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.

Related topics

• Volunteer work
• Unpaid domestic work
• Unpaid childcare