The facts about carers

Who are carers?

Carers provide unpaid care by looking after an ill, frail or disabled family member, friend or partner. They are not people looking after children who do not have a disability or life-limiting illness, or people in care professions such as care workers, medical staff or community workers.

Carers vastly outnumber health and social care workers, providing support that would otherwise cost the tax-payer at least £87 billion a year. Without carers, the economy could not afford the cost of caring. Changing demographics – an ageing population, smaller families and different family structures – mean that three in five people will care for someone at some point in their lives. Over the next 30 years the number of carers in the UK is set to rise from 6 million to 9 million, significantly increasing the number of people in the workforce with caring responsibilities.

Carers have different needs

Caring is different from mainstream childcare and needs a separate response from employers. Caring for a sick or disabled relative or friend – for example, as a result of an accident or stroke – can happen overnight, and can be unpredictable. Every year, 10,000 people have a stroke, 36,000 people are seriously injured in a road accident and 27,000 children are born or diagnosed with a serious disability or rare syndrome. Caring milestones are different too – a disabled child may still be at home with parents as a disabled adult. All too often, the “end of caring” means a loved one moving into residential care, or death.

Carers want to work

Unlike most paid work, caring is not a nine-to-five job. It is unpredictable and can make demands on a carer at any time, day or night. It is a job in itself. Carers can face problems in holding down a job. Around 570,000 people combine work with caring more than 20 hours a week. At work, they may not know that they are entitled to request flexible working; at home, there is the added pressure of caring for a loved one. Many working carers say their health suffers. Over time, this may compromise both their caring and employment roles.

Nevertheless, many carers want – and need – to work. But employment offers far more than a salary, it offers a life beyond caring. One carer of a disabled son says that work “keeps you grounded when things are going very badly elsewhere”. She adds that work allows her to “just be a normal person”.

Paid work offers carers:

✓ financial independence
✓ a source of satisfaction outside the home
✓ social contact and friendship
✓ self-esteem.

Facts and figures about carers

• There are 3 million working carers in the UK. Of these 1.4 million are men and 1.7 million are women. This percentage reflects the findings of the Government’s first baseline survey of work-life balance, in which 11% of respondents were men, and 15% women.
• Carers are not a static group - more than 2.3 million people move in and out of caring situations each year.
• Research tells us that 3 out of 5 people will care at some stage in their working lives.
• Many carers find themselves forced to give up work due to a lack of care services or flexible employment. A survey by Carers UK found that an incredible 7 out of 10 carers under 50 and 8 out of 10 carers aged 50 – 60 had given up work to care.
• Future workforce predictions tell us that the economy will need an additional 2 million people in the next 20 years, only a quarter of whom will be school or college leavers. Employers will need to widen their recruitment pool at exactly the same time that society will see an increase in the need for care.