A Carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without their support.

Did you know……?

• There are approximately 5 million adult carers in the UK
• By 2037, it is predicted that the number of carers will increase to 9 million
• 58% of carers are women and 42% are men
• More than 1 million people care for more than one person
• Carers save the economy £132 billion per year (approximately, £19,336 per carer)
• More than 3 million people are juggling caring whilst also in employment
• Due to the demands of caring, 1 in 5 carers are forced to give up work altogether
• Due to the stress and physical demands of caring, 625,000 carers suffer mental and physical ill health
• Over 3 million people provide over 50 hours of care per week.

Statistics from Carers UK.

Older Carers

• One in five people aged 50–64 are carers in the UK. 
• 65% of older carers (aged 60–94) have long-term health problems or a disability themselves. 
• 68.8% of older carers say that being a carer has an adverse effect on their mental health.
• One third of older carers say they have cancelled treatment or an operation for themselves because of their caring responsibilities.
• There are over one million carers over the age 65 in the UK. 
• Almost one in ten people over 85 provide unpaid care, with this number set to double over the next 20 years.
• Most carers aged over 70 are providing over 60 hours care a week.

How does caring affect your life?

Caring can have a huge impact on your life. We describe some of these issues below along with links where you can access support and information from Carers Trust.  

Money and Benefits

• Caring can lead to poverty if you have to give up work to care or are managing on benefits. The aids and equipment needed to help care can add an extra drain on tight finances. 
• Carers in poverty will not be able to afford do the things that many of us take for granted, such as buying new or warm clothes, heating the house, house repairs, going on holiday or a short break, running a car or paying for bus fare.
• Becoming a carer can feel like a constant battle to access help for you and the person you care for, for example getting the right diagnosis for your child's condition, appropriate support at school for a young carer in your family, adaptations to the home, and benefits and other financial help.

Read Carers Trust's advice on money and benefits and make sure you claim any benefits and credits that you, and the person you care for, are entitled to.

Health and Wellbeing

• Caring can make you physically exhausted – you might be getting up several times in the night as well as caring throughout the day. You might need to lift and support an adult who is a lot heavier than you. You might be juggling caring with looking after the rest of your family and holding down a job.
• Caring can leave you emotionally exhausted because of the strain of seeing someone you care about experiencing pain, distress or discomfort. 
• Caring can lead to stress, depression and other mental health issues.
• Caring can affect your relationship with your partner or other family members.
• If you are caring in a couple you may no longer be able to have the physical or emotional life you had together, nor enjoy shared activities or plan for a future together.

Read Carers Trust's full range of help and advice on health and wellbeing to keep you, and the person you care for, healthy.

Getting Out and About

• Caring can be isolating as you may find you can rarely leave the house.
• It may be hard to sustain friendships or develop new ones or keep up with interests and activities you may have previously enjoyed.

Get in touch to find out how we can help you have a break from caring

Working and Learning

• Caring may mean that you have to put your chance of a career on hold or never have the opportunity to have a career and reach your full potential.

Get support if you are working, looking for work or wanting to learn some new skills

 

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