UNPAID CHILDCARE

KEY FINDINGS

In the 2011 Census:

• 35% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over provided unpaid childcare, up from 33% in 2006
• 10% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over cared for someone else's child(ren) only without pay, up from 9% in 2006.

PROVISION OF UNPAID CHILDCARE BY AGE AND SEX

In the two weeks prior to the 2011 Census, over one-third (35%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over cared for their child(ren) and/or someone else’s child(ren) without pay. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25 to 44 years were most likely to have provided unpaid childcare (51%), while those aged 55 years and over were the least likely (19%).

Overall, females were more likely than males to have provided unpaid childcare (41% compared with 27%). Provision of unpaid childcare was most common among females aged 25 to 34 years (60%) followed by females and males aged 35 to 44 years (57% and 44% respectively). The greatest contrast was in the 15 to 24 year age group, where females were twice as likely as males to have provided unpaid childcare (30% compared with 15%).

RELATIONSHIP TO CHILD

Of those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over who provided unpaid childcare, almost two-thirds (64%) provided care only for their own child(ren) and almost one-third (30%) provided care only for someone else's child(ren). People aged 55 years and over were most likely to have provided unpaid childcare only for someone else's child(ren) (80%), while people aged 25 to 44 years were most likely to have provided care only for their own child(ren) (78%) and for both their own and other child(ren) (7%).