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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Wider Darwin 17,453 females (31.3% of females aged 15+) provided unpaid care to children in 2021. Of these, 5,091 females were caring for children other than their own.
The role of unpaid childcare in Wider Darwin 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wider Darwin - Females aged 15+ (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Unpaid child care | Number | % | Wagait Shire LGA % | Number | % | Wagait Shire LGA % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Provided unpaid child care (all) | 17,453 | 31.3 | 27.0 | 16,737 | 32.1 | 29.9 | +716 |
| Cared for own child/ren | 12,362 | 22.2 | 15.7 | 12,158 | 23.3 | 16.8 | +204 |
| Cared for other child/ren | 4,361 | 7.8 | 11.2 | 4,015 | 7.7 | 10.7 | +346 |
| Cared for own child/ren and other child/ren | 730 | 1.3 | -- | 564 | 1.1 | 2.5 | +166 |
| No unpaid child care provided | 33,172 | 59.5 | 64.0 | 29,181 | 56.0 | 65.5 | +3,991 |
| Not stated | 5,148 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 6,176 | 11.9 | 4.6 | -1,028 |
| Total persons aged 15+ | 55,773 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 52,094 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +3,679 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the unpaid child care provided by the female population in Wider Darwin in 2021 compared to Wagait Shire LGA shows that there was a higher proportion of females who provided unpaid child care either to their own or to other children. Overall, 31.3% of the female population provided unpaid child care, compared with 27.0% for Wagait Shire LGA.
The major differences between the share of the female population providing unpaid child care in Wider Darwin and Wagait Shire LGA were:
- A larger percentage who provided unpaid childcare for own child/ren (22.2% compared to 15.7%)
- A larger percentage who provided unpaid childcare for own and other child/ren (1.3% compared to 0.0%)
- A smaller percentage who did not provide care for children (59.5% compared to 64.0%)
- A smaller percentage who provided unpaid childcare for other child/ren (7.8% compared to 11.2%)
Emerging groups
The number of females who provided unpaid child care for their own and/or other people's children in Wider Darwin increased by 716 between 2016 and 2021.
The largest changes in the number of females performing unpaid child care in Wider Darwin, between 2016 and 2021 were those who:
- No unpaid child care provided (+3,991 females)
- Cared for other child/ren (+346 females)
- Cared for own child/ren (+204 females)
- Cared for own child/ren and other child/ren (+166 females)
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