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G21 RegionCommunity profile

G21 Region

Unpaid childcare

In G21 Region 81,749 people (27.7% of people aged 15+) provided unpaid care to children in 2021. Of these, 21,991 people were caring for children other than their own.

The role of unpaid childcare in G21 Region is determined by many different factors. For example areas with high levels of unpaid child care may have a dominance of single income families with one significant earner, or there could be a lack of provision of paid child care in the area. The level to which people care for others children can also indicate the role of extended family (eg. grandparents caring for grandchildren, family day care).

The role of unpaid child care is a complex one so this topic should be viewed in conjunction with several others, including Household Type, Employment, Household Income and Educational Attendance.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'In the last two weeks did the person spend time looking after a child, without pay?', which specifically asks respondents to differentiate between caring for their own children and caring for others children.

Unpaid childcare
G21 Region - Persons aged 15+ (Usual residence)20212016Change
Unpaid child careNumber%Regional VIC %Number%Regional VIC %2016 to 2021
Provided unpaid child care (all)81,74927.725.673,63729.327.2+8,112
Cared for own child/ren59,75820.318.350,21220.018.4+9,546
Cared for other child/ren20,0886.86.621,2178.57.9-1,129
Cared for own child/ren and other child/ren1,9030.60.72,2080.90.9-305
No unpaid child care provided195,45366.367.1156,87862.563.0+38,575
Not stated17,4635.97.320,5758.29.8-3,112
Total persons aged 15+294,665100.0100.0251,090100.0100.0+43,575
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Dominant groups

Analysis of the unpaid child care provided by the population in G21 Region in 2021 compared to Regional VIC shows that there was a higher proportion of people who provided unpaid child care either to their own or to other children. Overall, 27.7% of the population provided unpaid child care, compared with 25.6% for Regional VIC.

The major difference between the share of the population providing unpaid child care in G21 Region and Regional VIC was:

  • A larger percentage who provided unpaid childcare for own child/ren (20.3% compared to 18.3%)

Emerging groups

The number of people who provided unpaid child care for their own and/or other people's children in G21 Region increased by 8,112 between 2016 and 2021.

The largest changes in the number of people performing unpaid child care in G21 Region, between 2016 and 2021 were those who:

  • No unpaid child care provided (+38,575 persons)
  • Cared for own child/ren (+9,546 persons)
  • Cared for other child/ren (-1,129 persons)
  • Cared for own child/ren and other child/ren (-305 persons)

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