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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Wider Darwin 30,297 people (26.9% of people aged 15+) provided unpaid care to children in 2021. Of these, 7,643 people 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 - Persons 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) | 30,297 | 26.9 | 22.5 | 29,462 | 26.7 | 23.0 | +835 |
| Cared for own child/ren | 22,654 | 20.1 | 15.4 | 22,450 | 20.3 | 15.1 | +204 |
| Cared for other child/ren | 6,592 | 5.9 | 7.1 | 6,198 | 5.6 | 6.1 | +394 |
| Cared for own child/ren and other child/ren | 1,051 | 0.9 | -- | 814 | 0.7 | 1.8 | +237 |
| No unpaid child care provided | 70,158 | 62.3 | 67.3 | 65,707 | 59.4 | 71.1 | +4,451 |
| Not stated | 12,119 | 10.8 | 10.2 | 15,365 | 13.9 | 5.9 | -3,246 |
| Total persons aged 15+ | 112,574 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 110,534 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +2,040 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the unpaid child care provided by the population in Wider Darwin in 2021 compared to Wagait Shire LGA shows that there was a higher proportion of people who provided unpaid child care either to their own or to other children. Overall, 26.9% of the population provided unpaid child care, compared with 22.5% for Wagait Shire LGA.
The major differences between the share of the population providing unpaid child care in Wider Darwin and Wagait Shire LGA were:
- A larger percentage who provided unpaid childcare for own child/ren (20.1% compared to 15.4%)
- A smaller percentage who did not provide care for children (62.3% compared to 67.3%)
- A smaller percentage who provided unpaid childcare for other child/ren (5.9% compared to 7.1%)
Emerging groups
The number of people who provided unpaid child care for their own and/or other people's children in Wider Darwin increased by 835 between 2016 and 2021.
The largest changes in the number of people performing unpaid child care in Wider Darwin, between 2016 and 2021 were those who:
- No unpaid child care provided (+4,451 persons)
- Cared for other child/ren (+394 persons)
- Cared for own child/ren and other child/ren (+237 persons)
- Cared for own child/ren (+204 persons)
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