The total number of children receiving formal care increased between 1987 and 1990 by
75,200 {a 16.5 per cent increase). The total number of children receiving informal care
increased in the same period by 164,100 (a 14.8 per cent increase).11 In terms of the
pattern of use across formal and informal care, the area in which the greatest percentage
increase occurred was in the use of a combination of formal and informal care which
increased by 61,200 (a 32.0 per cent increase).
Although there was an overall increase in the total number of children in child care
since 1987, the proportion of total care being met by the formal and informal sectors
remained steady; 18 per cent of total care in 1990 was formal care only; 66 per cent of
total care was informal care only; 16 per cent of total care was both formal and informal
care (Table 4.8).