2001 Census Topic-based tabulations

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Unpaid Work (20), Age Groups (7) and Sex (3) for Population 15 Years and Over, for Census Metropolitan Areas, Tracted Census Agglomerations and Census Tracts, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data

About this variable: Unpaid Work (20)

Definition

Hours Spent Providing Unpaid Care or Assistance to Seniors
Part A - Plain Language Definition
Number of hours that the person spent providing care or assistance to elderly people without getting paid for doing so. This includes time spent giving personal care to an elderly relative, helping elderly neighbours with their shopping, and so on. The time spent on this activity is divided into blocks of hours (none, less than 5 hours, 5 to 9 hours, 10 to 19 hours, and 20 hours or more). Only hours spent on the activity during the week before Census Day (May 6 to 12, 2001) are counted.
Part B - Detailed Definition
Refers to the number of hours persons spent providing unpaid care or assistance to seniors of one's own household, to other senior family members outside the household, and to friends or neighbours in the week (Sunday to Saturday) prior to Census Day (May 15, 2001).
Unpaid care or assistance to seniors does not include volunteer work for a non-profit organization, religious organization, charity or community group, or work without pay in the operation of a family farm, business or professional practice.

Since 1996, the census has asked a question on the amount of time spent on each of three unpaid work activities: unpaid housework, unpaid child care, and unpaid care to seniors. In answering this question, respondents were asked to report all time spent on each activity, even if two or more activities took place at the same time. For example, a respondent who spent one hour taking an elderly parent to an appointment, while at the same time looking after his or her children, would report one hour in Question 33 (b) and one hour in Question 33 (c).

No formal definition of seniors was provided on the census questionnaire. The following definition appeared in the 2001 Census Guide: Seniors include all persons aged 65 years and over and some individuals close to age 65 who suffer from age-related infirmities.

In 1996, there were only four answer categories : None; Less than 5 hours; 5 to 9 hours; 10 hours or more.

Values

  1. Total - Hours spent doing unpaid housework
  2. No hours of unpaid housework
  3. Less than 5 hours of unpaid housework
  4. 5 to 14 hours of unpaid housework
  5. 15 to 29 hours of unpaid housework
  6. 30 to 59 hours of unpaid housework
  7. 60 hours or more of unpaid housework
  8. Total - Hours spent looking after children, without pay
  9. No hours of unpaid child care
  10. Less than 5 hours of unpaid child care
  11. 5 to 14 hours of unpaid child care
  12. 15 to 29 hours of unpaid child care
  13. 30 to 59 hours of unpaid child care
  14. 60 hours or more of unpaid child care
  15. Total - Hours spent providing unpaid care or assistance to seniors
  16. No hours of unpaid care or assistance to seniors
  17. Less than 5 hours of unpaid care or assistance to seniors
  18. 5 to 9 hours of unpaid care or assistance to seniors
  19. 10 to 19 hours of unpaid care or assistance to seniors Footnote 19
  20. 20 hours or more of unpaid care or assistance to seniors Footnote 20

Footnotes

Footnote 19

In 2001, two new categories of hours spent providing unpaid care or assistance to seniors have been added. These categories did not exist in 1996.

Return to footnote 19 referrer

Footnote 20

In 2001, two new categories of hours spent providing unpaid care or assistance to seniors have been added. These categories did not exist in 1996.

Return to footnote 20 referrer