2076.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2011 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/11/2012  First Issue
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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%).


PROVISION OF UNPAID CHILDCARE(a), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people(b) by sex

Graph shows that across all age groups, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females were more likely to provide unpaid childcare than males.


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%).


PROVISION OF UNPAID CHILDCARE(a), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people(b) by relationship to child(ren)

Graph shows that 25 to 44 year olds were most likely to care for their own child(ren) only, while those aged 55 years and over were most likely to care for someone else's child(ren) only.