Carer Poverty Coalition

The Carer Poverty Coalition, formed in February 2023, is made up of over 130 national and local organisations.

Collectively, we are campaigning to:

• End poverty amongst carers by advocating for policy change that adequately values, recognises and supports unpaid carers
• Reform the benefits system to better support carers financially in the short and long term
• Bring in better systems to support carers to continue with paid work
• Build awareness of carer poverty and the impact of the cost of living crisis on unpaid carers with Government, parliamentarians, decision makers and the general public

 

Carer Poverty Coalition manifesto

Read our Manifesto which outlines our asks of Government. 

What is carer poverty?

Every day across the UK, the work of unpaid carers helps hold society together – an invisible network of support, empathy and care for those who need it most. However, providing care to family and friends limits carers’ ability to earn a full income and adds extra costs that they would not otherwise have. Too often, due to a lack of recognition and support, unpaid carers end up falling into poverty or find themselves in precarious financial positions as a result of their caring role. Financial difficulties also have a significant impact on carers’ physical and mental health and often increase their own need for treatment and support in order to cope.

As many as 1.2 million unpaid carers are living in poverty and 400,000 are living in deep poverty in the UK. Deep poverty is where one’s income is more than 50% below the poverty line. An inability to participate in paid work, caring for long hours, and receiving income-related benefits are the strongest predictors of poverty amongst unpaid carers:

• The poverty rate is more than double for those providing more than 35 hours of care per week (43%), compared to people who are not unpaid carers (18%).
• Carers aged 25-44 have the highest rate of poverty of any other age group, at 38-39%.
• Two-thirds (67%) of unpaid carers who receive Universal Credit live in poverty – around 900,000 carers.[1]

There is a clear moral as well as economic argument for supporting unpaid carers to live on a decent level of income and for supporting those able to continue with paid work whilst caring. Better support for carers to stay in work has clear benefits to the wider economy by improving productivity and reducing unemployment. The value of unpaid care is estimated to be a staggering £162 billion per year in England and Wales alone. This is a huge contribution to the NHS, social care and to society as a whole.

Unpaid carers also provide a vital human connection needed for older people to thrive and enable people with disabilities and long-term illnesses to lead dignified, independent lives.

[1] Carers UK and WPI Economics, Carer poverty and financial hardship in the UK, Sep 2024.

Our work in Parliament 

In December 2024, we held a successful parliamentary event raising awareness of carer poverty. We welcomed 19 carers to speak to over 40 MPs and peers about their experiences of financial hardship. The event was also an opportunity for Carer Poverty Coalition members to speak to parliamentarians about their work and the financial impact of providing care to loved ones.  

Our media responses:

Spring Budget fails to support millions of unpaid carers living in poverty, says Carer Poverty Coalition – 6 March 2024

Carer Poverty Coalition responds to Chancellor’s Autumn Statement – 22 November 2023

Carer Poverty Coalition responds to the Chancellor's Spring Budget – 15 March 2023

New coalition to end carer poverty launches – 14 February 2023

Our campaigns

The Carer Poverty Coalition is supporting the letter that Carers UK has organised to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall MP, calling for an immediate halt to new overpayment debts until an independent review into Carer’s Allowance overpayments has concluded and its recommendations are implemented.

Find out more about the campaign

Our asks of Government

The Carer Poverty Coalition is calling on the Government to take urgent steps to improve support to unpaid carers, including raising carer-related means-tested benefits and reviewing Carer’s Allowance to increase and improve the level of support provided to unpaid carers in a variety of different situations.  

Read the Carers Poverty Coalition manifesto

To find out more about the coalition or to join, please get in touch using the address below.

carerpovertycoalition@carersuk.org