3. Stresses & Strains

Carers Journey

A Carer can enter their caring journey gradually over time, dementia for example or suddenly due to a life changing incident. No two journeys, nor their duration are ever the same. All Carers journeys are likely to involve, health and social care, employment, family relationships, forms and their bureaucracy, feeling alone, forgotten and frustrated.

There will be stairs to climb, slides to drag them down and guidance on how to make the journey easier to navigate.

No one should ever be alone on their journey as Carers Organisations; whose reason for existence is to support unpaid Carers, exist everywhere in the UK. More and more people, through Carer Champion training in the community and workplace, are becoming aware of unpaid Carers and directing them to this support.

Carers Champions

The Carers Champion role is to help raise awareness of unpaid Carers.

They can be found in a variety of front facing roles within the community and work places.
They will assist Carers to seek support from their local Carer Support Organisation
They encourage Carers to talk openly about their caring role
They let Carers know that they are not alone and there is lots of support available.

Important To Know

How many unpaid Carers in the UK?

The most recent Census 2021 puts the estimated number of unpaid carers at 5 million in England and Wales. This, together with ONS Census data for Scotland and Northern Ireland, suggests that the number of unpaid carers across the UK is 5.7 million. However, Carers UK research in 2022 estimates the number of unpaid carers could be as high as 10.6 million (Source: Carers UK, Carers Week 2022 research report).

Costings?

Unpaid carers in England and Wales contribute a staggering £445 million to the economy every day – that’s £162 billion per year. This is the cost of a second NHS. (Source: Petrillo and Bennett, 2023).

Impact on health and well-being?

Caring can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing. 60% of carers report a long-term health condition or disability compared to 50% non-carers (Source: Carers UK analysis of GP Patient Survey 2021). Over a quarter of carers (29%) feel lonely often or always (Source: Carers UK, State of Caring 2022).

Female Carers

In the latest Carers UK State of Caring 2023 report, 80% of the carers taking part were Female and 19% were male.

Increase in Carers

Over the next 30 years, the number of Carers is expected to increase by 3.4 million (around 60%).

Average age

The average age of a Young Carer is 12 years old. Typically, Adult Carers are in the 40-60 years age bracket where they are often at the peak of their working career

It could be you

Two in three people will become carers at some point in their lives (Source: Carers Trust 2023 - I care: Carers Week report on unpaid carer identification)