Millions of people in the UK are providing unpaid care, yet a considerable proportion do not identify as, or call themselves, a carer. It takes two years on average for someone to identify themselves as a carer; many people consider caring as part of family life and see themselves primarily as a partner, wife, son, sibling, cousin, parent or a close friend. As a result, they can miss out on vital support.
- 51% of carers take over a year to recognise their caring role, with over a third (36%) taking over three years to do so. Only a third (31%) recognise their caring role immediately.
- 71% of carers primarily see themselves as a family member or friend, which they say was a barrier to identifying themselves as a carer.
- 32% of carers who did not immediately recognise their caring role were never told that they were a carer.
- 53% of carers say their caring role developed gradually, so it took time to realise they were a carer.
There is a role to play for everyone in helping carers to identify themselves, whether it is Government, family and friends, health and social care, community organisations or employers. It is also critical that there are sound systems in place to help carers to identify themselves, keeping the right records as well as linking carers to further support so they do not miss out.
The Government gets away with not paying for a huge caring service that is being provided for free, often by women. We urgently need to increase public awareness and education so that it is not an expectation of women to take on caring roles.”
The next Government must:
- Develop a new public awareness programme to raise the profile of unpaid carers.
- Legislate to place a new statutory duty on the NHS to have regard to carers and support their wellbeing.
- Amend the Equality Act 2010 to include caring as the 10th protected characteristic.
- Encourage and fund the widespread adoption of Carers Passports.
- Develop a new National Carers Strategy which clearly sets out the Government’s future commitments to supporting carers.
- Support awareness campaigns, like Carers Week, Carers Rights Day and other initiatives that aim to reduce the time it takes for a carer to identify themselves and seek support.
Find out more
For more information, please see our online information about carer identification.
